Domingo left for Polly's Place not long after that, and for the remainder of the day Ilchymis rested in their room at the inn, reading his enormous book and playing with Cupil. The Silvite creature had already displayed a few of its new forms to the mage, among them a rope, an ever-changing key, and an anvil. Around sunset he glanced out the window toward the docks; Watcher, the merchant ship with which Lawrence had signed earlier that day, was no longer in port.
Ilchymis felt nothing but gratitude toward Domingo for wanting to travel with him, but he knew how difficult it must have been for the treasure hunter to part from Lawrence. Though it seemed that the volatile mercenary was always putting Domingo down, or ordering him around, Domingo was clearly very attached to Lawrence and more than likely regretted his decision to remain with Ilchymis in some ways. For this the mage felt a good deal of sympathy, and he hoped very much that Domingo would find all the discoveries his heart desired in their travels together.
The sun had barely set when Domingo returned to the room, bringing with him the faint smell of alcohol and looking rather depressed. Ilchymis felt a twinge of pity for the man as he shut his book and thrust it into his knapsack; Domingo gathered his own bag and slung it over his shoulder with a pained sigh. "You about ready to go?"
The mage whistled to Cupil, who had again falled asleep on the windowsill; the Silvite pet twittered happily and wound around Ilchymis's finger, taking on the form of a ring again. "Yes, I believe so. Shall we depart for the docks?"
The pair left the inn after paying their bill and slunk toward the docks, watching from the shadows as the crew of the Valuan cruiser Excavation readied the ship for departure. It would be difficult enough sneaking aboard the vessel unseen, but if they were spotted it was likely they would be taken to Valua and punished. The northern city did not take kindly to pirates, killers, beggars, or stowaways.
"You're sure they're going to Ixa'taka?" Domingo questioned his companion softly.
"Absolutely. A few of the deckhands were about in the city today, and I overheard them talking about it." Ilchymis noticed that one of Domingo's hands was resting upon the hilt of one of the kukris. "How do you propose we go about boarding? Surely we don't need to attack them?"
He nodded toward the various crew members. Domingo scowled as though he would like to, but shook his head. "Hopefully we can do this without hurting anyone. We'll just have to be extremely careful."
They stood in silence for many minutes, pondering just how they might execute their plan, and then Domingo heard Ilchymis muttering what was unmistakably the trigger phrase to a spell beneath his breath. Then the mage whispered "Panika", and one of his hands glowed a faint purple before returning to normal. Looking up, Domingo caught sight of a lavender fog hovering over the Excavation for a split second, and then the air was clear and all was dark.
"What did you just do?" he hissed, a note of panic in his voice.
"A simple spell to confuse the crew members," Ilchymis murmured back reassuringly. "They may still see us, but they will be so disoriented that by the time the spell wears off that they will not remember or dismiss it as a hallucination. Let us be quick."
With Domingo in the lead they boarded the ship and flitted through the corridors until they located the cargo bay; there they settled down among the cardboard boxes to ensure that no one passing through would spot them. Ilchymis pressed a finger to his lips, and they kept silent until they felt a slight tremor beneath them. The ship had taken off.
"I think we'll be safe here," Domingo mused, glancing around. "I don't know how long it will take us to get to Ixa'taka, but hiding in the cargo area was definitely a good idea."
"Very good indeed," agreed a new voice, and the treasure hunter gave a yelp as a shadowy, reclining figure next to him stirred. Someone was already there! "At least this way I don't have to go looking for you two; wouldn't want to draw attention to myself."
The figure leaned forward from the shadows, and with a gasp Domingo realized it was Lawrence. "What are you. . . but that merchant ship picked you up! It left hours ago!"
"And obviously I wasn't on it," Lawrence snapped, a scowl returning to his face. "Now look - I didn't come back because I give a damn about either of you; I'm here because you're right about Valua. I overheard them saying that they've forced the Ixa'takans into slavery."
Ilchymis bowed his head. "It's as I feared."
"Anyway, here I am, and if you make one joke at my expense I'll make sure the entire ship finds you," threatened the mercenary, and he settled back into the shadow to rest.
Domingo's face split into a wide grin. "Wouldn't dream of it, Scar-face!"
MasterofShadows: Why, thank you. And hey! Who wouldn't want to be with Domingo? Don't make me come after you...
Lady Lanet: That's the address I used; it doesn't work. Says it doesn't exist or something. And glad you like this.
Meowzy-chan: Hee hee hee...