Chapter 8: Harsh Seas and Heart Break
It was smooth sailing for the first leg of the journey; there was a small storm that jostled the ship but it didn't even knock Numair's books down from their perilous stacks. The sailors soon became lax because most storms seemed to light or bypass them entirely. Never turn your back on the sea.
It was the eighth day of the ten day voyage and everyone was feeling lazy and calm because of the heat. Daine was bored and decided to swim out and talk to a few of the dolphins and whales that were swimming near the boat. The sea was calm and a few others joined her. Onua, Jon, Thayet, and Numair dove in after Daine to cool off. Daine asked Alanna, who was napping on deck, if she wanted to; she refused. Well, Numair couldn't resist the opportunity to pull her in. She reached over to the water to get some water to splash on her face on the other side of the boat when she thought Numair wasn't around; he quickly swam under the boat and grabbed her arm just as she reached in.
"AHHH! Numair, you are so going to pay for that!" She yelled as she came up sputtering. She dove after him and began to splash him. Everyone started to laugh at the Lioness's attempts to splash Numair and drag him under. Numair had healed up completely before they left and he wasn't about to let the short, muscular Lioness catch him. Jon and Thayet were having a grand time trying to catch and calm the lioness who was currently trying to find a weak spot in the barrier that Numair had put up. "No fair! You can't us magic! Show-off mages." Alanna muttered.
Suddenly she began to rise in the air. "What the.?" She yelled as a bottlenose dolphin by the name of Ella rose up under her. Alanna gripped on to her fin as the dolphin began to swim around the ship.
Thank you, Daine said, I needed to do something before she tried something drastic that she may have regretted later.
You're welcome Daine! This is fun! Ella exclaimed. The young dolphin was only 2 years old and so she was fairly immature and completely willing to help.
By the time Alanna came back to the side of the ship that everyone else was on she was smiling and laughing and the dolphin was having almost as much fun.
"Your Majesties," a sailor said, "There's a storm headed this way an' I don't know if it'll pass us. Ew' don't wanna go take'n chances if ya don 'ave tah."
"Of course, come on everyone. Alanna get off the dolphin. Numair, stop trying to knock Alanna off. All of you get onto the ship before you drown." Jon ordered as though they were naughty children.
Everyone quickly began to swim toward the ship; Daine then saw the storm. It looked like it was worse than any they had encountered ever and she didn't want to take a chance and hope that it would bypass them. She thanked Ella and her pod before starting to climb up the side of the ship on a rope ladder that had been draped over the edge of the ship. She fell back into the water when something caught the bottom of her shirt. The storm was closer than she felt comfortable with and the water soon began to churn and throw Daine at the hull of the ship.
"It's a hurricane!" someone yelled above her. Daine looked up and saw that the clouds had started to pour down a torrent of water and wind. She grabbed the ladder and started climbed as fast as she could. Numair grabbed her and pulled her onto the deck. He pulled down below deck to their quarters where they wouldn't have to worry about falling overboard.
That's what Anis hopped they would do. She was swimming quietly below the storm, easily maneuvering the waves. She looked onto the ship through a particularly large wave that had picked her up to give her a better view. She watched them go down below deck.
Thank Chaos and all her assistants, the beautiful woman thought. I didn't want to take the mage. Warten said that just taking one of them would drive the other mad so I only have to blow the hull to get her out. She chuckled as she took out the lime green ball; she had dissolved the other one in the water to create the storm. She popped her head out of the water to chuck the ball at the side of the ship where it promptly exploded with a loud Foosh sound.
The ship's six month old wood looked as if it aged ten years in seconds. Anis watched as the wood began to crumble and the screams from with in. Daine had her head on Numair's shoulder when she realized that the wood was crumbling. Numair immediately stood up, knocking Daine to the floor.
At that moment a large hole opened up in the wall with a crash and splash.
"Daine!" Numair yelled as the current dragged the girl from the floor where she was fighting to stand and into the churning ocean. The ship was sinking. Numair was about to dive in after Daine when he remembered what happened last time.
"Numair! Numair keep the ship afloat or we all die!" Alanna yelled as she ran in, looking like death warmed over. Numair snapped out of his revere and managed to put up an invisible barrier to keep the water out while the sailors quickly patched the hole with tar while others tried to keep the ship from flipping.
Alanna was no where in site; she disappeared the second she was sure Numair could keep the ship afloat on his own. She ran to the deck and hoped that Daine hadn't drowned yet. Not while she was around to save her.
She grabbed a rope and tied one end around her waist and the other around the mast. She ran to the side of the ship and dove in. She burst to the surface a minute later. "Daine, Daine where are you?"
She searched the surrounding water, looking for movement besides the grey waves that were crashing around her. There! There was something trying to get to the surface! She dove down under the waves where she could see somewhat better. There was a pair of legs fighting the waves to get to the surface. And something else was swimming toward them.
Alanna rubbed her eyes as the thing came into focus; it was a woman with the same hair color like what they found on the barge. She was wearing a shimmering dress of lime green silk and it looked beautiful. Alanna came for a breath of air and dove back down. The thing had grabbed Daine and was pulling her down. Alanna grabbed the dagger in her belt and swam toward the creature.
The thing looked up and smiled as she saw Alanna coming toward her. She raised her hand and a force pulled the dagger from Alanna's hand, out of the water and onto the ship.
"So nice to meet you, Alanna is it?" The creature smiled, her razor-sharp teeth glinting. "I'm Anis. I've heard so much about you! Pity you can't help me or your little friend here. I do hope she won't be missed. Have a nice day, and give my regards to the Mage." She smiled and swam away; her feet turning to fins as she went, with Daine in tow and fighting for everything she was worth. There were animals swimming fast toward her, but they were flown into the air by a swish of Anis's hand as she disappeared into the endless depths of the sea.
***
Alanna burst to the surface and gasped. She pulled herself toward the ship as strong hands pulled her up. Alanna looked up into Numair's face, full of concern, not just for her, but for Daine.
"Anis, Anis took Daine!" Alanna gasped. "She took my dagger and threw it here, then she, she took her. Oh Numair." Numair tried to hide the pain in his eyes as he set Alanna on her feet.
The storm was abating and the ship repaired well enough to get them to Port Leggan. Her dagger was embedded in the deck. There was a piece of parchment pinned under it. Numair let her go as he sat on a bench, put his head in his hands and wept, mourning the girl he had come to love like no other.
Alanna walked over to the dagger, pulled it up and looked at the note. It had a silver blue seal on the front with two swordfish with their noses crossed over a crown of seaweed. She opened it and read:
So sorry not to have introduced myself earlier to you all, I didn't want you to figure me out too soon. I am sure you all wonder why I took the Wildmage and I'd tell you if you needed to know. The girl will be dead and at the bottom of the sea before you find her, so don't bother looking. The Emperor of the Copper Isles sends his regards to their majesties, and tell that dragon to mind her own business next time I'm working. She's tied in the hold with the monkey, by the way. I had to get the layout of the ship last night and she was bothering me so I chained the lizard in there. Hope you don't mind. I didn't harm her; just made sure she didn't run off and tell that I was here.
Anis Kingsford
P.S. Yes, Varice is my sister, she knows nothing of what I did so don't bother with her. And her real name is Evara. She's not a natural baby blonde. She had silver highlights before she died it.
Alanna's hand began to shake. Onua came over to see what was wrong; she took the paper and read.
"Oh horse lords have mercy! She's going to kill Daine!"
Thayet and Jon came over to see what triggered Onua and Alanna's meltdown. While Thayet tried to calm them down, Jon read the letter and turned starch white. Thayet took it and did the same. Jon yelled for one of the sailors to go unite Kitten and Zek.
"Where's Daine? Did she get out okay?" Numair came out of the hold looking pale and drained; he was looking around for Daine.
"I'm so sorry Numair; we don't know where she is." Jon said as he handed the paper to the tall mage.
"Oh gods, no. Please no. Not Daine, please." He cried, his lips quivering after he finished reading.
Alanna could take no more as she walked down to her cabin. George followed her into their cabin. Alanna sat down on the bed and began to cry.
"Oh George, why'd it have to be Daine?"
George pulled her to him as she began to cry harder and he let himself do the same.
She just cried and cried; for Daine, unconscious in the ocean without a hope of being saved in the midst of a storm, she cried for herself and their majesties, who would miss the young woman who they had come to depend on when there were animals involved. She cried for Onua, who had come to love the girl as the daughter she never had. She cried for the animals who would feel her loss even more then them. She cried for Kitten and Zek who were left homeless without her. But mostly, she cried for Numair: for while she had George and the kids, Jon and Thayet had each other, Kitten had Zek and Tkaa, Numair had no one to turn to. He had given his heart to the Wildmage, and now she was gone, she was gone because the Emperor's thirst for power had caused him to hire a water spirit to destroy the only thing in the world he loved. He was virtually alone in the world. He was alone and broken hearted.
***
Once enough people had composed themselves, they discussed what to do with Kitten and Zek. Now that Daine was gone, they needed to find someone to take care of them. Tkaa couldn't care for them, he had enough on his plate as it was, and they couldn't just be left alone in the palace. The discussion lasted for several minutes.
"I really wish that Tkaa could take them, but he doesn't need anymore things to worry about right now. I fear there is no choice but to have her grandparents take Kitten and let Zek live in the menagerie." Jon stated as composed as he could.
"I wish that they could come live at Pirate's Swoop, but we are so often not home that I don't think it would be a good idea." Alanna said regretfully.
"I'll take them." Several people jumped as Numair came out of the hold, his eyes red with tears. "They're all I have left of Daine and I plan on moving back to my tower where they will be quite happy."
"Are you sure Numair? They are a lot of work." Jon asked.
"After all Daine did for me, it's the least I can do."
It was smooth sailing for the first leg of the journey; there was a small storm that jostled the ship but it didn't even knock Numair's books down from their perilous stacks. The sailors soon became lax because most storms seemed to light or bypass them entirely. Never turn your back on the sea.
It was the eighth day of the ten day voyage and everyone was feeling lazy and calm because of the heat. Daine was bored and decided to swim out and talk to a few of the dolphins and whales that were swimming near the boat. The sea was calm and a few others joined her. Onua, Jon, Thayet, and Numair dove in after Daine to cool off. Daine asked Alanna, who was napping on deck, if she wanted to; she refused. Well, Numair couldn't resist the opportunity to pull her in. She reached over to the water to get some water to splash on her face on the other side of the boat when she thought Numair wasn't around; he quickly swam under the boat and grabbed her arm just as she reached in.
"AHHH! Numair, you are so going to pay for that!" She yelled as she came up sputtering. She dove after him and began to splash him. Everyone started to laugh at the Lioness's attempts to splash Numair and drag him under. Numair had healed up completely before they left and he wasn't about to let the short, muscular Lioness catch him. Jon and Thayet were having a grand time trying to catch and calm the lioness who was currently trying to find a weak spot in the barrier that Numair had put up. "No fair! You can't us magic! Show-off mages." Alanna muttered.
Suddenly she began to rise in the air. "What the.?" She yelled as a bottlenose dolphin by the name of Ella rose up under her. Alanna gripped on to her fin as the dolphin began to swim around the ship.
Thank you, Daine said, I needed to do something before she tried something drastic that she may have regretted later.
You're welcome Daine! This is fun! Ella exclaimed. The young dolphin was only 2 years old and so she was fairly immature and completely willing to help.
By the time Alanna came back to the side of the ship that everyone else was on she was smiling and laughing and the dolphin was having almost as much fun.
"Your Majesties," a sailor said, "There's a storm headed this way an' I don't know if it'll pass us. Ew' don't wanna go take'n chances if ya don 'ave tah."
"Of course, come on everyone. Alanna get off the dolphin. Numair, stop trying to knock Alanna off. All of you get onto the ship before you drown." Jon ordered as though they were naughty children.
Everyone quickly began to swim toward the ship; Daine then saw the storm. It looked like it was worse than any they had encountered ever and she didn't want to take a chance and hope that it would bypass them. She thanked Ella and her pod before starting to climb up the side of the ship on a rope ladder that had been draped over the edge of the ship. She fell back into the water when something caught the bottom of her shirt. The storm was closer than she felt comfortable with and the water soon began to churn and throw Daine at the hull of the ship.
"It's a hurricane!" someone yelled above her. Daine looked up and saw that the clouds had started to pour down a torrent of water and wind. She grabbed the ladder and started climbed as fast as she could. Numair grabbed her and pulled her onto the deck. He pulled down below deck to their quarters where they wouldn't have to worry about falling overboard.
That's what Anis hopped they would do. She was swimming quietly below the storm, easily maneuvering the waves. She looked onto the ship through a particularly large wave that had picked her up to give her a better view. She watched them go down below deck.
Thank Chaos and all her assistants, the beautiful woman thought. I didn't want to take the mage. Warten said that just taking one of them would drive the other mad so I only have to blow the hull to get her out. She chuckled as she took out the lime green ball; she had dissolved the other one in the water to create the storm. She popped her head out of the water to chuck the ball at the side of the ship where it promptly exploded with a loud Foosh sound.
The ship's six month old wood looked as if it aged ten years in seconds. Anis watched as the wood began to crumble and the screams from with in. Daine had her head on Numair's shoulder when she realized that the wood was crumbling. Numair immediately stood up, knocking Daine to the floor.
At that moment a large hole opened up in the wall with a crash and splash.
"Daine!" Numair yelled as the current dragged the girl from the floor where she was fighting to stand and into the churning ocean. The ship was sinking. Numair was about to dive in after Daine when he remembered what happened last time.
"Numair! Numair keep the ship afloat or we all die!" Alanna yelled as she ran in, looking like death warmed over. Numair snapped out of his revere and managed to put up an invisible barrier to keep the water out while the sailors quickly patched the hole with tar while others tried to keep the ship from flipping.
Alanna was no where in site; she disappeared the second she was sure Numair could keep the ship afloat on his own. She ran to the deck and hoped that Daine hadn't drowned yet. Not while she was around to save her.
She grabbed a rope and tied one end around her waist and the other around the mast. She ran to the side of the ship and dove in. She burst to the surface a minute later. "Daine, Daine where are you?"
She searched the surrounding water, looking for movement besides the grey waves that were crashing around her. There! There was something trying to get to the surface! She dove down under the waves where she could see somewhat better. There was a pair of legs fighting the waves to get to the surface. And something else was swimming toward them.
Alanna rubbed her eyes as the thing came into focus; it was a woman with the same hair color like what they found on the barge. She was wearing a shimmering dress of lime green silk and it looked beautiful. Alanna came for a breath of air and dove back down. The thing had grabbed Daine and was pulling her down. Alanna grabbed the dagger in her belt and swam toward the creature.
The thing looked up and smiled as she saw Alanna coming toward her. She raised her hand and a force pulled the dagger from Alanna's hand, out of the water and onto the ship.
"So nice to meet you, Alanna is it?" The creature smiled, her razor-sharp teeth glinting. "I'm Anis. I've heard so much about you! Pity you can't help me or your little friend here. I do hope she won't be missed. Have a nice day, and give my regards to the Mage." She smiled and swam away; her feet turning to fins as she went, with Daine in tow and fighting for everything she was worth. There were animals swimming fast toward her, but they were flown into the air by a swish of Anis's hand as she disappeared into the endless depths of the sea.
***
Alanna burst to the surface and gasped. She pulled herself toward the ship as strong hands pulled her up. Alanna looked up into Numair's face, full of concern, not just for her, but for Daine.
"Anis, Anis took Daine!" Alanna gasped. "She took my dagger and threw it here, then she, she took her. Oh Numair." Numair tried to hide the pain in his eyes as he set Alanna on her feet.
The storm was abating and the ship repaired well enough to get them to Port Leggan. Her dagger was embedded in the deck. There was a piece of parchment pinned under it. Numair let her go as he sat on a bench, put his head in his hands and wept, mourning the girl he had come to love like no other.
Alanna walked over to the dagger, pulled it up and looked at the note. It had a silver blue seal on the front with two swordfish with their noses crossed over a crown of seaweed. She opened it and read:
So sorry not to have introduced myself earlier to you all, I didn't want you to figure me out too soon. I am sure you all wonder why I took the Wildmage and I'd tell you if you needed to know. The girl will be dead and at the bottom of the sea before you find her, so don't bother looking. The Emperor of the Copper Isles sends his regards to their majesties, and tell that dragon to mind her own business next time I'm working. She's tied in the hold with the monkey, by the way. I had to get the layout of the ship last night and she was bothering me so I chained the lizard in there. Hope you don't mind. I didn't harm her; just made sure she didn't run off and tell that I was here.
Anis Kingsford
P.S. Yes, Varice is my sister, she knows nothing of what I did so don't bother with her. And her real name is Evara. She's not a natural baby blonde. She had silver highlights before she died it.
Alanna's hand began to shake. Onua came over to see what was wrong; she took the paper and read.
"Oh horse lords have mercy! She's going to kill Daine!"
Thayet and Jon came over to see what triggered Onua and Alanna's meltdown. While Thayet tried to calm them down, Jon read the letter and turned starch white. Thayet took it and did the same. Jon yelled for one of the sailors to go unite Kitten and Zek.
"Where's Daine? Did she get out okay?" Numair came out of the hold looking pale and drained; he was looking around for Daine.
"I'm so sorry Numair; we don't know where she is." Jon said as he handed the paper to the tall mage.
"Oh gods, no. Please no. Not Daine, please." He cried, his lips quivering after he finished reading.
Alanna could take no more as she walked down to her cabin. George followed her into their cabin. Alanna sat down on the bed and began to cry.
"Oh George, why'd it have to be Daine?"
George pulled her to him as she began to cry harder and he let himself do the same.
She just cried and cried; for Daine, unconscious in the ocean without a hope of being saved in the midst of a storm, she cried for herself and their majesties, who would miss the young woman who they had come to depend on when there were animals involved. She cried for Onua, who had come to love the girl as the daughter she never had. She cried for the animals who would feel her loss even more then them. She cried for Kitten and Zek who were left homeless without her. But mostly, she cried for Numair: for while she had George and the kids, Jon and Thayet had each other, Kitten had Zek and Tkaa, Numair had no one to turn to. He had given his heart to the Wildmage, and now she was gone, she was gone because the Emperor's thirst for power had caused him to hire a water spirit to destroy the only thing in the world he loved. He was virtually alone in the world. He was alone and broken hearted.
***
Once enough people had composed themselves, they discussed what to do with Kitten and Zek. Now that Daine was gone, they needed to find someone to take care of them. Tkaa couldn't care for them, he had enough on his plate as it was, and they couldn't just be left alone in the palace. The discussion lasted for several minutes.
"I really wish that Tkaa could take them, but he doesn't need anymore things to worry about right now. I fear there is no choice but to have her grandparents take Kitten and let Zek live in the menagerie." Jon stated as composed as he could.
"I wish that they could come live at Pirate's Swoop, but we are so often not home that I don't think it would be a good idea." Alanna said regretfully.
"I'll take them." Several people jumped as Numair came out of the hold, his eyes red with tears. "They're all I have left of Daine and I plan on moving back to my tower where they will be quite happy."
"Are you sure Numair? They are a lot of work." Jon asked.
"After all Daine did for me, it's the least I can do."