Chapter 11
After assembling on the boat, everyone took their places. Leona summoned Honus and they all sailed out of Luskan in the dead of night. They weren't the only ones scrambling to get away; Luskan being full of thieves and two-timers, it was like high noon with all the activity at the piers. No one would follow them where they were going, anyway. No matter what happened, they'd sail back down to Neverwinter, bypassing Luskan altogether. Any sailing past Luskan required checking in there, and they had covered their tracks as much as possible on the way in. But on the way back, if they cut the angle right, they could continue South of Luskan, bypassing the magical barriers forcing them to stop. But they'd barely talked about the way back. Success seemed too shaky to even mention.
Wild magic was rumored, and wild magic there was. Random weather changes, elemental balls overhead, whirlpools and creatures. But Sand was spot-on about Honus being protection. They sailed through it all as if through mirages. "Now if only we knew where to head," said Grizelda.
"We'll know," said Gann.
"What makes you so sure?" asked Leona.
"I can hear whoever is dreaming."
While sailing smoothly through the wild magic, the party discussed what might be waiting for them. Everyone agreed the magic would be very strong, serving as its own guard. The island was isolated enough that guarding it would be redundant, and any guards stationed there would be in danger from the magic that surely swirled about the place. Even if they were wrong, thanks to Gann the island would be asleep, anyway.
Three days later, the crew was getting tired. They were sailing straight West out to sea. Leona couldn't help wondering if they should be turning North or South, or if they would miss the manor by a mile either way. Over lunch that day everyone was quiet. No one dared ask the questions everyone wanted to know: how far would they sail out, and at what point would they give up?
At the noon meal it was quieter than usual. During one of the many long pauses, Gann said, "There are people on an island six miles North."
Sand raised an eyebrow. "People?"
"Dreamers. Three, right now. Humans. Two are women. And," he said with a pout, "there's not a single lusty dream among them."
Sand turned to Leona. "Shall we head there?"
She paused. "Hold our position and wait until night so Gann can get a sense of how many people are on the island."
"No need," said Gann, rising from the table. "I'll go have a chat with these dreamers right now. Give me an hour and I can tell you what they're doing there."
"Fair enough," Leona said. Gann left, and the meal continued in a deeper silence even than before.
Three hours later Gann returned with a satisfied, smug look on his face. "Sorry," he said. "One of those two ladies was a farmgirl." Ignoring the party's expectant faces, he said, "I can't get whole life stories, but desire I know something about. The two women desire nothing. Really, nothing at all. Not love, money, fame, children…I mean nothing. They're positively content. The man, strangely, seems to desire a hot mug of coffee and a visit with his childhood dog. I'd say this is your Island. These people are absolutely and positively boring as hell."
"Yes," said Sand mockingly, "apparently too much sex makes one more boring, instead of less."
"Too much of anything makes you boring," said Neeshka.
"Well, well, well," said Gann. "That's the first wise thing you've said since I've been back in human form."
Neeshka scrunched up her nose and switched her tail. "I think I liked you better as a mangy cat."
Gann leaned in close to her and said, "I gave you fleas."
"Ewwww! That's foul."
Grizelda turned the ship to head North, and they realized sometime later that Leona was out of sight.
Leona stayed in her cabin until Grizelda came down and said the island was visible. To keep calm, she started running through ideas for the future, in case she couldn't find Casavir there. She would sneak away from the party, and look for information herself in Luskan. She would go back to Ophala, and beg for more information on secret prisons. She would go to the Temple of Tyr at the Keep, and show such deep devotion that Tyr would tell her if Casavir was with Him or not. She would hunt down the Luskan Captain who started her on this wild chase, and make him tell her more. Now that she'd had a taste of hope, she knew, she wouldn't stop searching.
Upon seeing the island, she knew this was the place. It was at once visible and invisible, as if you could only see it out of the corner of your eye. The closer they got, the more repellant it was: she had a feeling, suddenly upon her, that she did not want to go there. She wanted to ignore the island – wait, was there an island? She didn't see an island. They would just keep sailing North, for what they were looking for, which at the moment she couldn't remember just what that was.
Leona found herself at the stern of the ship with Sand, Khelgar, and Grizelda, all watching the water flow into a strong wake. They were all of them agitated, clearly feeling a sense of dread. Grizelda sat down on the ship's floor and put her hands over her ears. Sand seemed to be staring at something far away, to get his bearings. Khelgar was vomiting into the parted sea flowing behind them. It came to Leona in a rush that Neeshka and Gann weren't there. Practically against her own will, she ran towards the bow, until she saw Gann and Neeshka together at the helm, perfectly calm.
"Everyone got seasick at once," Neeshka said. "You look positively green."
"What – what are you doing?" Leona asked. "Are you trying to kill us? Steer away from this fog! It's making us sick! It will kill us. You have to turn back!"
Gann turned around finally, perfectly calm. "Ah, I see the problem. Neeshka, it looks like you and I are immune to the island's – ahem – 'charms.' Be so kind and take your friends below deck."
Neeshka shrugged. "Must be a demon thing."
"Imagine," said Gann. "It is actually good for something."
Once below decks, vision cleared and minds centered. Leona realized that they had passed through very strong magic, that even Sand could not protect against. Thank Tyr for Gann – again, she thought. Those not from our world have all kinds of strong power, like I did in his world.
"This place –" said Grizelda between big gulps of water – "this place does NOT want to be found."
But find it they did. Within minutes they felt the bump of ship against land. Leona sank onto the nearest crate. She would wait until someone came to get her, before venturing out again. Whether Casavir was there or not, she had a feeling things were going to get far worse before day's end.
Besides, it was a few hours until dusk, and they'd agreed only to venture in when most inhabitants would already be asleep. Gann would keep them deep in dreamland while Neeshka disabled physical traps and Sand disabled magic ones.
Neeshka came in rubbing her hands together as if cold. "Not as we planned it," she said spryly. "But we landed on the island all the same."
"That…was…horrible," said Sand, still hunched over one of the pots. It was unusual for him to be caught off guard, and Leona didn't like seeing it either. It made her feel all the more vulnerable if Sand was even having trouble coping.
"Well, relax. Oh, Gann said he's cloaked us pretty well but could use some help, Sand. When you feel up to it, of course."
"Of course. Tell him…I'll be right up."
"Okee dokee," said Neeshka, and she bounced all the way up the stairs.
Khelgar groaned. "Nothing is worse than feeling like yer in a sewer, and seein' other people bounce around like it's their lucky day."
Let's hope it's a lucky day, thought Leona. We're going to need all the luck we can get.
