Chapter 4 Why Boring Is Good
Moving over to her husband Jia glanced at her son, who was dutifully watching the sky ahead and the forest below, paying no attention to her.
"We need to talk," she said quietly, taking his arm and pulling him back to the stairs below deck, some forty feet away from Balasi.
"What's the matter?" Kolur asked seriously, keeping his voice low.
"While I was feeding Eleniel she mentioned her necklace."
"Your favorite subject," her husband chuckled, relaxing. "What about it?"
"You know how I could never learn what it did?" she asked.
"No, really?" he teased her.
"This is serious, my husband," she snapped. "Eleniel may have stumbled across its secret without realizing she had done so."
"You lost me. How could she not know?" Kolur asked, perplexed.
"She has only been jamming for a few months. She told me she can see other helms flying, that she can feel the spirit of the ship. She was surprized when I told her that others could not."
"You think that's what her necklace does?" Kolur frowned in thought. "Sounds pretty useful to me. So what's the problem?"
"We do not know what else her necklace can do, Kolur! She can fly far faster than she should. She can see things she should not, commune with a spirit she thinks is the ship. What if it is not the ship she feels? What cost will the necklace demand for these gifts?"
"Magical items don't harm their users, Jia. You know that," Kolur said in a calming voice. "Except maybe cursed ones. You still think it's cursed?"
The woman paused, then took a deep breath.
"No. I prayed to Fu Xing and asked for a sign. He granted it to me, and I learned her necklace is not cursed. But some magical items drain their users for power, and are not cursed either. Even our helm does that. Use it for more than half the day and it will begin to feed on your life force.
"The neogi", she snarled the word, "power their ships with a death helm. As horrid as that abomination is I cannot truly say it is cursed. Victims can be released from it and recover if not left in for too long. Truly cursed objects cling to their victims like barnacles to a hull."
"Just like her necklace," he replied carefully.
She nodded. "Yes. But Fu Xing has spoken, her necklace is not cursed. But that does not mean it is safe. Especially for one so young."
"Well then, what do we do?" Kolur asked, looking worried.
"We wait, and watch," Jia sighed. "Eleniel has always been a happy and energetic child. If that should change, or if she should sicken, we may be forced to ask a wizard for aid."
"That's a bad idea. Her necklace is probably a Precursor artifact. Consult a wizard and chances are the Arcane will find out sooner or later—and then she's done for."
"I know," Jia said miserably. "But it may not come to that. Perhaps her necklace poses no danger to her. We can only hope."
"Maybe ask a priest instead of a wizard?" Kolur suggested doubtfully, "someone in the Belt, maybe a cleric of Ptah or Celestian?"
Jia grimaced, "Could we afford to travel all the way to the Belt? Perhaps a Celestian would keep the secret, but I would no sooner trust a priest of Ptah than I would a priest of the Path and the Way."
"Money's not an issue. To save our daughter's life I'd sell Morning Dove in a heartbeat. You could always hire on as a navigator for a ship headed Belt-ward and I can work any crew position. Getting to the Belt isn't the problem. Finding someone we could trust on the other hand…"
"It is too soon to make such plans," Jia said, clamping down on the worm of worry gnawing at her belly. "There is a more pressing question. Should we tell Balasi about Eleniel's newly discovered abilities? I say we should not."
"You know better," Kolur said disapprovingly. "We should tell him now and make sure he understands how dangerous it would be to let others know, rather than let him discover it by accident and maybe spill the beans. That's just begging for trouble."
"Perhaps you are right," she said reluctantly. "Will you do it? He may not take me seriously."
"You're his mother," Kolur protested.
"I am," she nodded. "I am also very aware my children think me far too suspicious and that I jump at shadows—as do you."
"Hey, not about her necklace," he protested, stung. "I'm behind you all the way when it comes to that. I've dealt with the Arcane, remember?"
"Pabbi! Mama! Incoming!" Balasi's excited shout interrupted his parents. "Dunno what it is but it's huge!"
The two adults raced to the front of the deck, Kolur instinctively moving behind the port ballista even as he spotted what his son had.
"Damn, that's one big fjandinn," Kolur whistled. "What the hell is it?"
"Something new," Jia said dryly, "Eleniel, evasive action now!"
The Morning Dove slowly swerved away from the oncoming creature, banking sharply and briefly hiding the beast under a wing, only to level off once the turn was completed to reveal the gigantic monstrosity, resembling nothing so much as a translucent jellyfish. It rapidly fell away to their port aft.
Kolur watched it carefully while Balasi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Never saw one of those before," he commented, eyeing the thing, which dwarfed the Morning Dove. "Must be what, three times as wide as the Dove is long? Gods know how long its tentacles are. Bet that thing could eat a dragon."
"Can it move against the wind?" Jia asked warily.
"Maybe," Kolur said doubtfully. "If it's like sea jellies it probably drifts most of the time, letting the wind take it. I doubt it could move very fast if it did try to move on its own. We shouldn't have to worry as long as we stay away from it."
"Uh, Pabbi? Looks like it brought some friends," Balasi said in a slightly panicky voice.
The two adults swung back around to stare in dismay at a dozen more of the monster jellyfish. The view started tilting again as the ship's nose began to rise. In under a minute the ship was climbing nearly straight up.
"She is trying to get above them," Jia said in realization. "Kolur, spin us. I want to make sure she is not cutting it too close!"
"Balasi! Help me with the jib sheet!" Kolur ordered, racing to one of the running lines. His son joined him, grabbing the sheet. With both of them using their entire strength they managed to shift it directly in line with the mast. The jib fought them but in the end reluctantly moved where they wanted it. Still billowing from the magic of the helm the straining jib was pushed sideways, forcing the ship to heel sharply. As she was moving nearly straight up heeling caused her to rapidly spin on her long axis. As soon as she had spun half way round Kolur walked the sheet forward, letting it play out until the foresail returned to its normal position.
Jia stared straight up from the deck, the ship's steep climb making it seem they were sailing underneath clouds of dusky translucent flesh.
To make matters worse the jellyfish weren't all flying at the same altitude. Instead they formed a staggered wall. The nearest jellyfish was flying at a mid-level, the one beyond it flying highest of all. Jia did rapid calculations in her head as the ship raced toward safety.
"Good girl," she murmured, then raised her voice. "Eleniel, turn twenty degrees to starboard! Let that thing past so we don't have to get above it!"
The ship's nose drifted slightly to the right. Jia narrowed her eyes as she gauged the distance before relaxing. The ship was now halfway along the highest jelly's tentacles and would clearly pass several hundred yards to the side of the monster.
As the ship reached the midpoint of the float Eleniel began to level the ship, leaving them flying upside down, the ground now thousands of feet above their heads. Before Kolur could grab the jib sheet again the Morning Dove began to slowly rotate around her long axis. It took almost a full minute to right the ship again.
"And that, Balasi, is why spelljammers have sails," Kolur said, grinning. "As fast as your sister flies straight ahead she took nearly a minute to turn us right side up. You notice the jib only took seconds."
"The same is true in wildspace as well," Jia told her son. "Not even a major helm can turn a ship nearly as quickly as her sails can."
"I always wondered why Pabbi insisted on raising the sails," Balasi said. "I thought it was silly we had them."
"You know we normally need the winches to move the sails, right?" Kolur said, rolling his eyes. "The helm's magic pushes straight against the sail's curved side. Even a petty helm gives our jib a lot of shove. Not to mention the main and mizzen sails."
"Whatever," Balasi said impatiently. "At least there's no more of those stupid jellyfish. Man, that was scary."
"Were you not the one who wished for excitement?" Jia asked, gazing innocently at her son. Kolur snorted at the sour look Balasi gave his mother.
"Be careful what you wish for," she continued. "The gods are often generous—sometimes extremely generous—to our family."
"A little excitement goes a long way, Balasi," Kolur agreed, nodding, "Nothing like a jolt of terror to wake you up in the morning!" He took a deep breath and pounded his chest with a fist.
Balasi sighed heavily
"Listen to your elders Balasi," The boy mimicked in a weary singsong voice.
"Are you calling me old, you young whippersnapper?" Kolur asked in a wheezy crackling tone.
"Behold Balasi," Jia said snidely, "For he is truly a venerable aged sage, ready to join his honored ancestors. Take advantage of the wisdom he so freely offers, for you cannot know how much longer his timeworn lungs can still draw breath."
Kolur stuck his tongue out at his wife then turned serious.
"Balasi, we need to tell you something. It's about your sister," Kolur said in a grim voice.
"What about her?" Balasi asked curiously.
"We found out a little more about her necklace. You know, the necklace bad people might kill her to get?"
"Uh huh," Balasi nodded, turning solemn.
"We think her necklace might be why she can fly so fast. It seems that that's not all it does. It lets her see helms a long way off. Not only that, it lets her talk to the Morning Dove too."
"Huh? Talk to the Dove?" Balasi asked, blinking. "How can she talk to a ship?"
"It does not speak to her," Jia corrected her son, "rather she says the ship feels like an eager puppy. Going fast makes it feel giddy, apparently."
"Giddy," he said flatly. "You're pulling my leg!"
Jia shook her head. "No. Fu Xing has given me a sign. Eleniel finding her necklace was indeed a great blessing and not the curse I had feared. We always suspected it was made by the Precursors. That alone makes it horribly dangerous to possess. But as recompense the necklace grants her great power."
"Linny? Powerful?" Balasi asked in disbelief. "Little Linny?"
Jia nodded gravely. "I did say the gods were extremely generous to our family. Eleniel has been blessed with great power. But with great power comes great danger. No one must know, Balasi. If others learn of this she could die. And us along with her."
"Huh?" he asked, frowning. "I get they'd be after her, but why the rest of us?"
"What would you do if someone tried to hurt your sister?" Jia asked patiently. "What do you think they would do to you if you stood between her and them?"
Balasi swallowed. Jia nodded grimly. "Believe me when I say your father and I would fight. And we might even win. The first time. But such evil never reveals itself. It lurks in the shadows, sending others to accomplish its goals. Should it lose a few men, what of it? Such men are cheap and plentiful. A second or third time we might not win. We would be hounded; assassins would strike from the shadows. Eventually, we would fail. And against such enemies failure means certain death."
Balasi paled under his tan.
Jia smiled wanly at her son. "My people often curse their enemies by saying may you live in interesting times. Now you understand why."
Balasi just nodded silently, a bead of sweat on his forehead.
