The Long Road of Adventure- Blue Storms and Black Sand

by Ian Rodgers

  “What was that?!” Bolos shouted, whirling around to face the closet door. There was a large cut in the wood right below the keyhole. He then spun to glare at the masked man.

  “Why did you attack my fortress?!”

  “I thought I detected mana,” Lord Blade stated, staring intently at the slashed wood. Gaelin silently began to pray to any deity that would listen that the man in the black cloak would not come closer and investigate.

  His fervent prayers were answered when Lord Blade’s intense gaze shifted away.

  “Hmm. Apologies, that was my mistake.”

  “It certainly was,” Bolos grumbled. He then straightened out his uniform. “Anyways, I shall obtain what you want. It may take a while, but I shall honor our deal.”

  “Good. I will return in a month’s time to check on your progress. Do not disappoint me.” With that, Lord Blade turned around and walked back into the shadows, his form rippling and dissolving in the darkness until he vanished completely as if he’d never been. The intense presence of the man abruptly disappeared and everyone let out a gasp they hadn’t known they’d been holding in.

  Bolos let out a shaky sigh, and ran a hand over his face.

  “Damn you,” he snarled at Gelt, who was panting with relief now that the unnatural pressure was gone. “You’re becoming very troublesome!”

  He kicked the merchant in the shin in a petty display of anger and stalked out of the room, leaving his breakfast behind and the half-elf alone.

  In the closet, Gaelin was breathing heavily, trying to regain control of himself. His soul and mana were still agitated even though the man in the silver mask had left.

  Lily looked from Gaelin, who was suffering some kind of panic attack, and then up at the cut in the door. If Gaelin hadn’t reacted at the last minute and pulled her down with him, her head would have been severed from her neck!

  She turned her head, and looked behind her at where the slash had gone through the wall at the back of the closet, and kept going.

  The attack had been at an angle, and had flown through the wall and beyond the fortress. In the distance, just barely visible though the slanted hole in the fortress, the tree tops of the island nearby were gone, sliced off. A few palm trees had collapsed, the trunks cut.

  The archer swallowed nervously, staring out at the devastation the masked man had caused with a freaking table knife! She shivered at the thought of the destruction he could have pulled off with a real weapon.

  “We’re alive, we’re alive,” Vala chanted to herself, shivering on the floor. Bigg Guy was trembling as well, and cowering alongside the Druid.

  “Are you two alright?” Lily asked, crawling over to the two of them where they lay huddled.

  “Couldn’t you feel it? The emptiness? The devouring, all-consuming emptiness?” Vala whimpered, tears spilling down her cheeks.

  “Yes, but not as badly as the rest of you did, it seems,” Lily said softly, patting Vala comfortingly before pulling the earth elf into a tight, reassuring hug.

  “You’re lucky, Lily,” Gaelin muttered. “I felt like someone was smothering me with a wet pillow. And my mana… my very soul was rebelling at that man’s presence!”

  “For a moment, I thought I was back in my cage,” Bigg Guy claimed, tears of terror matting the fur around his face.

  “We need to leave before that man comes back,” Gaelin declared. “Forget one month, I want to get out of here before Bolos decides to leave the island again!”

  Everyone nodded. But, they couldn’t move yet. Not until the evening when Bolos retired to his chambers and the pirates went away could the quartet move about.

  A rumbling roar burst forth from their stomachs, and Lily winced at the noise. “First things first, we need food. We can’t do anything if we’re nearly dead from hunger!”

  “Any plans for remedying that?” Gaelin asked. The red-head nodded and slipped out of the closet towards the food that had been left behind.

  Swallowing her pride along with a mouthful of drool, she picked apart the meal, feeding some of it to Gelt and stealing the rest for herself and the others. She then apologized to Gelt and moved him closer to the leftovers.

  “It’s alright, I understand you need to stay hidden,” Gelt said kindly, and bent down so his face touched the dirty plate. This way, he could pretend that he had moved himself closer to the table and eaten the breakfast himself.

  He then sat back as Lily scurried back into the closet, egg yolk and bread crumbs sticking to his face to complete the charade. And he settled in to wait for Bolos to return and begin the interrogations once more.

  But there was a smirk on his lips. Gaelin Arcros and Liliana Deshire Holonburg. They were proving to be very interesting people. It had been the correct decision to speak with the boy back in Palan Vey last year. He wondered what their future held.

  Yes, his instincts as a merchant had served him well once again!

  .

  Darkness draped itself over the islands. Night fell, and the stars emerged. Slowly, hidden in the depths of the pirate’s fortress, four figures stirred, and prepared for the final push.

  “Ok, everyone knows their jobs, correct?” Lily asked in a hushed voice one more time. Vala rolled her eyes but nodded.

  “Yes. Gaelin and I are to steal the keys to the airship and prep it for launch. Also, we need to keep Bolos asleep so if we do cause any commotions, he won’t immediately be able to react and counter attack.”

  “Exactly! Meanwhile, it will be up to Bigg Guy and myself to find the keys to the slave collars, and free them while also escorting them towards the fortress and sneaking them inside,” Lily added, and Bigg Guy offered a thumbs up.

  Gaelin meanwhile grinned and clutched his halberd tighter. “It’s time to go!”

  They exited the closet as silently as they could, and took in deep breaths of air. It had been stifling staying inside there for hours on end.

  “Oh, before we forget!” Lily hurried over to the chair Gelt was still bolted into, and motioned for Bigg Guy to join her.

  “Please set my friend here free,” she requested of the Ursine, who grinned and bent down before tearing off the chains with his bear hands.

  “Many thanks,” the merchant gasped, rubbing life back into his limbs. “I think I’m going to need some time to recover, though.”

  “Do so, but don’t take too long,” Lily said, patting his shoulder kindly. “As soon as you’re able, join Gaelin and Vala at the airship. We won’t be long, either.”

  Gelt nodded, still slumped in his chair. The quartet then paired off and shot off into the fortress to complete their missions.

  .

  “Lily and Bigg Guy have it easy,” Gaelin griped under his breath as he and Vala approached the room Bolos slept in. “There’s a copy key of the slave collars in the armory, but for the airship? There’s only one, and Bolos keeps it on him at all times!”

  “Shut your mouth and quit complaining,” Vala hissed at him, a seed in one hand and her makeshift staff in the other. Her eyes were closed in concentration, and it was only Gaelin’s steady hand on her shoulder than kept her from running into things as she walked.

  Gaelin paused at the corner of the hallway that led to Bolos’ quarters, and shot a glance at Vala. She was still concentrating on the seed, and wisps of green magic were coiling around it as it lay in her left palm.

  “Almost… almost… there!” Vala said, opening her eyes. “Is it time to weaken? Is it time to dream? Let peace and tranquility seep into your very soul! Sleep!”

  In her left hand, the seed she had been holding cracked and split open, roots and stem emerging rapidly. In seconds, there was a small yellow and pink flower sitting in her palm, its thread-like roots wrapped around her hand and wrist to steady itself.

  Urged on by the spell, a cloud of pink pollen rose from the flower and it drifted, guided by the earth elf’s magic, towards the captain’s bedroom. It slipped through the cracks and filled the room, and after a momen
t of waiting, Vala grinned.

  “It worked!”

  “Amazing!” Gaelin praised. “How did you do that? And will it really keep Bolos asleep?”

  “Of course, it will! The Sleep spell either puts the target to sleep for a few hours, or it makes sure anyone who is already asleep will stay that way for a while,” Vala declared as they hurried to the door.

  “And as for how I did that, I’m a Druid, remember? Using natural resources in conjunction with our magic makes spells work faster and more efficiently. We don’t have the raw power regular mages do, who can just force spells to work. I need to use reagents and catalysts more often to make my spells function properly.”

  “And the seed?”

  “From a Puny Posy,” Vala explained, showing off the flower that was still attached to her. “They’re an ingredient in sleeping potions, and I keep a seed or two from various useful plants on me at all times to use with my Druidic magic. Praise Gaea the pouch I keep them in didn’t get washed away when we fell into the ocean!”

  Gaelin could only nod in agreement as the reached Bolos’ quarters. Vala bent down to check the lock, and grinned when she noticed it was unlocked. She carefully opened the door and ran a quick Detect Magic through the room.

  “He disabled the traps before he went to bed!” she crowed victoriously. “And my spell worked! He won’t be able to wake up until the morning!”

  Gaelin nodded and stepped into the room, halberd at the ready. He looked at the pirate captain snoring away on his magnificent bed, and his grip tightened around the polearm.

  It would be so easy to kill him and be done with it. One quick stab or stroke of the axe-head, and the scourge would be dead.

  He glanced down at his weapon, then back at the slumbering pirate, before heaving an angry sigh and turning away.

  If he wanted to create a closer bond with his divine halberd, he couldn’t commit murder on an unwitting victim. Even if the man deserved it. He marched over to the desk and began to look through the drawers.

  As the adventurer tore through the room in his search for the airship’s key, the halberd pulsed faintly, as if pleased by its owner’s decision.

  “Found it!” Gaelin exclaimed, holding up the item.

  The key was large, at least three times the size of a regular door key. It was also fat and bulbous, and made of a mix of gold and brass. Thin, nearly invisible runes were etched along the teeth, and the Druid gave the adventurer a gesture to leave.

  Just because Bolos was in a magical slumber, didn’t mean it would do to linger when they had other things to do.

  “I’ve always wanted to ride in a gnomish airship,” Gaelin admitted as he shut the door to the captain’s quarters behind him.

  “I don’t know why you’re so enthusiastic,” Vala said drily, casting a look out of a window at the fenced in courtyard where the massive flight-capable vessel was moored.

  “You’ll be dangling over a harsh, unforgiving ocean, or a harsh, unforgiving land, and one wrong move will see you plummeting to a fiery death! And the birds!”

  Gaelin grimaced at that. “Yeah. The one problem with the sky.”

  Vala shot him a look. “You know, you never told me where your hatred of avians came from. What to talk about it?”

  “No thanks,” he said shortly, his good mood evaporated like mist under the bright tropical sun.

  Vala stared at Gaelin, wanting to understand his anger, but decided that now was not the best time for a heart-to-heart. She advanced with him towards the airship.

  And what an airship! The wood that made up the gondola was a dark, rich brown, and was polished and coated in a water-proof veneer that made it shine. The massive balloon that provided lift for the vessel was currently deflated and hung limp like a droopy white cloud. The whole airship was elevated by a platform that kept its keel from touching the ground, and the propeller free as well.

  The gondola was almost identical to the body of a regular ship, such as an open-air deck that connected to the bridge. However, the gangplank was connected to the hull, not the deck, and could be raised or lowered with a winch.

  “How do you think Bolos’ previous captain got his hands on this thing?” Gaelin wondered, staring up at it in awe. “I mean, the gnomes keep a close eye on all of their technology and devices. Even a Runetrick weapon costs hundreds of gold and has to be bought directly from Tantara!”

  “Probably good luck. Perhaps they were testing it, to see if it worked and was water-proof? Don’t know, let’s just get inside,” Vala said. Gaelin stepped up, brandishing the key in front of him as they stepped up the stairs of the platform leading up to the airship’s door.

  The magical defenses registered the key and faded. Of course, he waited for Vala to confirm the ‘all clear’ with a Detect Magic. It never hurt to be cautious, especially at such an important junction.

  “This place doesn’t seem very pirate-y,” Vala mused, looking over the interior decorations. The original decor left behind from the gnomes was still in place. Brightly colored, plenty of natural light thanks to wide bay windows leading to a balcony that ringed the circumference of the gondola, and lots of polished, shiny steel.

  “I guess the pirates couldn’t be bothered to try and change anything.” Gaelin said with a shrug. Vala then tilted her head to the side.

  “Do you hear splashing?”

  Not for the first time, Gaelin wished he had a sharper sense of hearing. It was annoying to have to be told to listen and try to pick up the sounds he normally missed.

  “Yeah. I think it’s coming from over here, near the bilge.”

  Using the all-purpose key he swung the door to the hold open and stepped inside. Alerted to his presence, enchanted lamps sprang to life. The dull, even light reflected off of a large, glass aquarium that sat prominently in the back.

  Hopping around inside were a dozen cat-sized sapphire blue toads, startled awake by the sudden light. On closer inspection, there was a dark blue gem embedded in their foreheads.

  “Oh my Gaea!” Vala gasped as she stepped into the bilge after Gaelin. Her eyes widened in fear as the toads began to croak loudly, and even Gaelin could feel the tingle of magic fill the room.

  “Kill them! Kill them now! Quickly!” Vala cried, pointing at the hopping menaces.

  “Fly, my might! Reach beyond, strike them down! Blade Wave!” Gaelin intoned, trusting the elf’s instincts.

  A shockwave of magic rippled forth as he slashed his halberd at the glass tank, and it shattered as the silvery energy impacted it. Two toads were bisected, their blood mixing with the water and sand that gushed out.

  Gaelin then rushed in, swinging his polearm this way and that, cutting apart the blue amphibians.

  He managed to cull half of them before they retaliated. Mouths gaped wide, and an ear-splitting croaking roared out. The water on the floor trembled before shooting up as spikes, seeking to impale the D-ranker.

  With ease he twisted aside, dodging the volley of Aqua Needles they had unleashed. He kept a close hold on his surprise, and focused on finishing off the magical creatures before they could do anything else.

  Their flesh was soft, yet rubbery. It required a touch of Reinforced strength to carve them to pieces with his halberd, lest the blade bounce off if it hit the wrong angle. A swish of the blade, and they fell, entrails making a sopping mess of the floor.

  After a few more slashes, he thrust his halberd, point first, into the mouth of the last of the croaking menaces. It gurgled on its blood before expiring thanks to the shard of metal in its brain.

  “What the heck were they?” Gaelin asked, letting the mana in his body fade, the glowing tattoos that marked his Reinforcement spell vanishing.

  “Aquamarine Toads,” Vala said, approaching now that they were dead. “They’re annoying magical creatures that are attuned to the Element of Water. As you saw, their croaking can control water. And we’ve just taken care of the source of Bolos’ infamous ability to conjure storms!”

&n
bsp; “See, if enough of these fellows gather in one place, their magic increases exponentially, and their croaking song can actually summon storms. They’re known to cause monsoons and floods whenever fifty or more gather in one place. Even with only a dozen, Bolos could still make a decent squall to batter his targets.”

  “Um, what are you doing?” Gaelin asked as the earth elf reached down and began to pluck the sapphire-like stones from the toad’s foreheads.

  “These crystals are called Toadstones. Unimaginative name, but they’re wonderful pieces of natural medicine! Eating one will completely purge the venom of any reptile or amphibian from your body, magical or otherwise. Even the poison of some species of fish can be cured with a Toadstone,” Vala explained. She tossed six of them over to Gaelin who caught them after only a bit of fumbling.

  “There’s enough for three for each of us. You can sell ‘em for fifty gold each, but I’d suggest keeping at least one of them as an emergency antidote.”

  “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” Gaelin said, storing the loot in a pocket. He then looked over the mess they’d made. “Should we clean up?”

  “Nah. We have better things to do. Come on, let’s check on the controls, and see if this thing can fly us out of here!”

  .

  “This is it, Bigg Guy. Time to see if our plan works,” Lily said, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves. Behind her, the Ursine nodded, and kept watch as the red-head unlocked the door to the slave’s barrack.

  She pushed it open, and was slapped in the face by a roiling wave of nausea as the scents of the slave’s quarters assailed her.

  Lily choked on her own bile for a moment, and Bigg Guy recoiled in horror as his sensitive nose took an even greater hit.

  The sound of the princess gagging, combined with the suddenly opened door, attracted attention from the few slaves who were awake.

  “Who are you?” one of them demanded, bracing for the abuse or torment that was the norm.

  Lily held up the key to their collars, moonlight glinting off of it.

  “Keep quiet and listen up! I’m going to get you out of here, but you have to follow my instructions if you want to leave the island!”