The Sorceress: Part Three

     “Shami!” Lurina choked and started towards them, but Garin held her back.

     “Are you crazy?” he asked her. “You’ll get killed if you go over there!”

     “But Shami’s in trouble!”

     “Stay here! I’ll go help her!”

     Lurina watched helplessly as Garin sped off, dodging attacks. There was a shout behind her. “LURINA, LOOK OUT!” There was a feeble flash of purple and a thud. Behind Lurina, a Shoyru bit the dust. When Lurina turned around, she saw Lalli being forced to the edge by a series of attacks from an Aisha and a Mynci.

     Lurina rushed to her aid, but it was too late. Lalli went over the edge and plunged into the icy water. She didn’t even know how to swim properly! Before Lurina could follow her down, she was attacked by the Aisha and Mynci.

     Furiously, she tried to defend herself. She couldn’t find an opening to attack. And each blow was getting closer. It was only a matter of time before she got hit. Then there was another blade beside hers, helping her out.

     “Need some help, Lurina? Garin wants to give his guests the five star treatment,” Jacques said.

      Lurina looked worried. “Lalli went over the edge, and she doesn’t know how to swim!”

     Jacques turned serious. “Go get her; I’ll hold these two off!”

     Lurina ran over to the edge and dived into the ocean. She went under and searched frantically. There was something moving below her. She realized it was three faerie-creatures. But they didn’t have that powerful aura around them that most faeries had. In fact, they looked downright evil. Lurina had vague memory about something like this. Of course! They were called the Drenched! Lurina gulped. She had remembered they were also dangerous.

     Lurina didn’t recall ever swimming so fast. But her pursuers were gaining on her with every second. She burst through the surface and screamed as loud as she could. Her sword was pulled away from her. Now she was completely unarmed except for her claws and teeth. Lurina looked up at the two ships. Garin’s looked like a toy sailboat compared to Scarblade’s. But something weird was going on. The Revenge was starting to sail away.

     Then she felt something pulling her under. She tried to break free, but their grip was like iron. Slowly, they pulled her down, until she was up to her neck. She screamed again and tried to kick to the surface. Lurina felt herself come up a little. That’s when they surfaced.

     The Drenched resembled water faeries, except their skin and hair looked sickly. Their eyes were full of evil and their teeth looked razor sharp. Their nails were like claws. One of them pushed her down, while the other two pulled. Just before she went down, Lurina screamed again, using most of her breath. Just before she fell unconscious due to lack of oxygen, she registered a splash next to her.

     ***

     Lurina woke up a couple of minutes later. She was being hauled over the guard rail by Jacques. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “What’re you?” she muttered. “My knight in shining armor?”

     Jacques's face was filled with relief. “I though you were done for!”

     Loranisa appeared beside him and spoke to him. “You’d be done for if she was! I’m not joking.”

     Lurina stood up, leaning on Loranisa. Her head was still swimming. Suddenly she turned to Jacques. “Lalli... did you see her?”

     Jacques shook his head.

     “What about Shami and Dari?”

     “Shedars is unconscious. I don’t how that happened to a ghost, and Scarblade took Shami aboard the Revenge.”

     Lurina steadied herself and surveyed the scene. Most of the crew was clutching various injuries while a blue Wocky ran around bandaging them up. She realized that Jacques was bleeding. “You’re hurt!” she said.

     “The Drenched did that. It’s okay.”

     Lurina looked him in the eye. “It is most certainly not okay!” She hovered one of her paws over the wound and concentrated. Instantly, her healing ability took over. The cut closed and the blood evaporated.

     Jacques looked surprised. “That’s a useful ability to have. Thank you!”

     Lurina smiled but was a bit dizzy. Even that little bit of magic took it out of her. She shouldn’t have done it, especially now that she was exhausted. The world began to spin. Jacques and Loranisa were looking at her with concern.

     “Lurina, you shouldn’t have healed it so well. You know it makes you tired. Simply stopping the bleeding would have been enough!” Loranisa said reproachfully.

     “It does?” Jacques asked. He looked at Lurina. “Say, are you all right? You look a little dizzy.”

     “That’s because I feel dizzy,” Lurina thought. Then she blacked out again.

     ***

     Lurina woke up to see Shedars beside her. Shedars smiled. “Good, you’re awake.”

     Lurina rubbed her head. “What happened?”

     “Well, big sister, it seems the Drenched have the ability to draw energy from you. They were nearly finished with you when Jacques stopped them. You had hardly any energy to stand, let alone heal.”

     “So I fainted,” Lurina finished.

     “That’s exactly right.”

     Lurina thought about it. That’s why her head hadn’t cleared up even after she was conscious. That’s why she felt dizzy after doing only a minor healing spell. She suddenly saw Shedars smiling at her.

     “What’s so funny?” she asked.

     “Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing.”

     “Shedars, it’s nice to see you smile after so long, but please tell me what you were thinking about!”

     “The others were really worried about you,” Shedars said, changing the subject. “Let’s put them out of their misery, shall we?”

     Lurina grinned and jumped down from the bed. But her smile disappeared when she thought of Shami. “What’ll we do about Shami?”

      Shedars was serious too. They’re planning just that right now. I wish I could help, but my power level is at zero. I’ll have to wait for midnight instead of just night. Lurina and Shedars headed above deck where some of the crew and Loranisa were discussing something. As they got closer, they could hear what was being said.

     “I think we should try and figure out why they took her,” Loranisa said.

     Lurina went beside her. “If it helps, I first thought they were going for Shedars and were threatening her with Shami. But when they took off with her, I didn’t know what to think.”

     “Lurina, you’re awake!” Loranisa cried excitedly.

     “You know, Scarblade wouldn’t take her for nothing. Usually, he only bothers us if he thinks we have something powerful,” Jacques mused.

     “Well, Dari is powerful...” Lurina said thoughtfully.

     “Then why’d he leave her and take Shami? Shedars must have been pretty vulnerable right then.”

     “You know, maybe they weren’t looking for me particularly. Maybe they were just looking for someone with powers. They could have thought Shami was the one with the magic, and then...”

     Garin nodded. “You could be right. Either way, we have to save her.”

     “And we have to do it as soon as possible, too,” Lurina said. She thought for a while and then addressed Garin. “Look, I know this a bit of a silly question, but is there anyway Lalli could have survived?”

     “Well, there is one way. It’s not likely, though...”

     “But it’s a chance,” Lurina said.

     Garin looked uncomfortable. “I really shouldn’t say... no, just forget it.”

     Lurina glared at him. “But I insist,” she said in sugary sweet voice.

     Garin knew that tone. It was that tone females used right before they hit you. Hard.

     “All right, all right, I’ll tell you. You know Maraqua?”

     “Yes, we do,” Lurina said in the same tone.

     Garin realized he was not out of the danger zone yet. “I know this Maraquan Aisha named Isca. She usually swims around out of the city and there’s a small chance she found Lallinara.”

     “Is there any way we can contact her?” Lurina asked, this time normally.

     “Well, we could swim to the city and ask her personally.”

     “How do we go all the way there without running out of breath?”

     Garin took out his seaweed necklace. “I usually wear this. It has an enchantment that allows me to breathe underwater. And Jacques has a potion.”

     “Can we go now?”

     “I can’t; I have to stay here and plan the attack. You go with Jacques. Here, take this.” He handed her the seaweed necklace.

     Jacques drank a little of the potion and they both dove into the waves.

     ***

     “This is so cool!” Lurina laughed. The necklace enabled her to breathe underwater. She turned a cartwheel and faced Jacques. “C’mon,” she said. “Let’s get going.”

     Jacques led her through the sea until the gates of Maraqua came into sight. The guards stopped Lurina from entering. “Strangers are not allowed,” one of the two guards said.

     “But she’s with me!” Jacques argued.

     “That doesn’t matter. She has to stay here.”

     Jacques noticed with alarm that Lurina’s eyes were starting to tear up. The guards did too. “All right, you can go in!” the other one said hurriedly. “But stay with him at all times.”

     Lurina swam into the city with Jacques.

     “Meh. Works every time,” she muttered once they were out of earshot.

     Jacques looked at her in amazement. She really was something else. “You were acting?” he asked in disbelief.

     “I sure was.”

To be continued...