The clamor of the rain almost obscured the low and mournful howl of the large, turtle-like pytro, but the sixteen passengers could still feel it through the wooden benches and floor. The howl was echoed by the similar howls of three other pytros swimming steadily beside it through the turbid waters. Their tow-ton bodies moved slowly down river, but they were the only form of transportation that could travel safely through such a storm. Their bodies were similar to a sea turtle's with massive, dingy-colored shells and flippers, but their heads and necks were covered with bright red and yellow feathers. They had a beak like a bird's and their eyes were on stocks almost like a snail's.
Such an unusual animal could not have been used for transportation had it not been for the indentation on their backs. Mariners had seen the usefulness of this sturdy animal and had designed a hollow glass sphere that could be strapped onto their backs and carry passengers. The sphere was roughly twenty feet in diameter. A wooden floor sectioned off the bottom third of the globe. Beneath this luggage and freight were stored. Above a wooden bench ran the circumference of the little room. The walls could be opened in better weather to let in fresh air and sunshine. On this day they were closed.
The steady poor of raindrops on the glass made it all but impossible to look outside. Though it was just past midday the sky was as dark as pitch. It had hardly lightened at all since the night before. Several lamps hung from the top of the sphere, but even their light could not cast away the darkness of the storm. For one of the sixteen travelers this was a blessing.
Marin Thayd was obviously not like the other passengers. Her clothes were of a finer cut and richer material. While the other passengers sat slumped over or lay across the bench, she sat up perfectly straight, watching the other passengers as if she expected them to attack at any minute. One long-fingered hand never left the child sleeping beside her. The other lay in her lap, but was ready to reach into her cloak to pull out the dagger hidden inside should it be necessary.
A full length black hooded cloak lay across her narrow shoulders and fastened at her throat with a ruby broach. The Green gown beneath was hardly visible under the pools of black fabric. Her short hair curled softly around her face and concealed the pointed tips of her ears. She was so pale she seemed to glow in the darkness. The child beside her was very poor looking in comparison. Her clothes were torn and her hair was raggedly cut short lie a boys. She whimpered in her sleep, and Marin gently stroked her hair to calm her.
The glass orb rocked steadily with the motion of the water. The water seemed to seek the passengers, longing to reach them. Several times it had risen enough to seep in through the small openings meant to let in air. Every passenger, except for Marin and the sleeping girl, were soaked through with a cold dampness that chilled them to the bone. None of the others seem to notice that Marin and the girl were dry and warm, just like they didn't notice and would not remember that they had boarded at all. Not one of them would recall seeing them, though they had ridden with them for three days downriver.
A bolt of lightning tore the sky in half. The accompanying thunder roared over them. Many of the passengers looked around them in fear, but Marin still sat calmly. She was glad for the storm, for she knew it would make it harder for those who were following her and the girl. It would take them almost five days to catch up to her once they arrived in the city, but by then Marin planned to be three days out of the city and halfway to safety.
The water rocked them again, this time much harder. One of the lanterns crashed to the floor, but in the dampness the fire did not catch. The girl cried out softly along with more than one of the other passengers. Marin Thayd looked up at the sky and watched the lightening streak across. The girl trembled beside her. Marin took pity and reached inside the worn leather bag resting on the floor beside her feet and pulled from it a translucent blue orb. It was covered with thin lines of white in unrecognizable patterns. She pressed the tips of her fingers into its cool familiar surface. Closing her eyes, she began to chant something quietly to herself. The other passengers seemed oblivious to the half-elf glowing blue on the far edge of the room. What they did notice is the slight lessoning of the storm's intensity. Marin placed the orb back into the satchel and resumed stroking the girl's hair and watching the other passengers.
Not long after this the pytros lurched onto the shore by a small river town just outside of the city. The glass spheres strained against the leather strapping, but they held. The great beasts settled into the mud and allowed the keepers to open a section of the sphere and fold down the stairs. Marin gently woke the girl beside her and helped her to stand. She picked her bag up from the floor and led the girl down the stairs. She then had to wait until the keeper brought out her luggage, a long black case and a second leather bag, before starting down the road toward the shabbier of the town's two inns.
The inn, which was called the Sleeping Dragon, was a small, but sturdy wooden structure. Marin had no trouble procuring the nicest of its six rooms. She paid the innkeeper for two nights, though she planned on staying f or only one, before carrying her things and the girl, to their room.
A single bed stood in the middle of the tiny room. The girl fell into it and was asleep in an instant. Marin looked around the room. It was neat, but poorly furnished. A small table and chair were the only other furniture, but what was more important was that the roof didn't leak and their was no other openings, not even a window, to worry about. When looking at the door, Marin was disappointed to see that there was no lock. She pulled the chair over to it and propped it against, Knowing it was probably an unnecessary precaution.
She laid the case on the end of the bed carefully, so as not to wake the girl. She placed her hand over the lock and it opened easily. Laying on the black velvet lining was a staff of highly polished mahogany. It was almost six feet long, several inches taller than Marin. A golden figure of a dragon wrapped itself around the top of the staff and held between its paws a silvery blue orb, the same size as the one she had used to lighten the storm. She removed the orb and replaced it with one that was midnight blue with black markings. She held the staff over her head, and then tapped lightly on the floor. A blue light seeped from the tip of the staff to the floor and then swept across up the walls until the whole room glowed faintly. When it stopped glowing, Marin replaced the staff in its case. She knew now that they were safe. No one could enter the room unless she wanted them to.
Marin turned her intentions to the girl on the bed. She shivered slightly in the cool of the room. Marin took off her cloak, removed the six, black-bladed daggers from it, and laid it over her. She brushed the hair away from the girl's face tenderly. She then took the chair from the door and placed it by the bed. She fell asleep in that chair watching the girl she had kidnapped three days before.