The Return of Scarblade: Part Three

     "You and your crew will serve as a perfect bribe for the Maraquans to surrender at my hands. If they do not, I'll dispose of you. Then again, you won't survive either way, not after living through all the traps and obstacles I set for you. I'll bet," he glared at Caylis, "you tampered with them! You'll be the first to die, after what you've done!"

     The Aisha only had enough time to glare back at him, for a flash of lightning split the night. "No!" shouted a shadowy figure. "I did."

     Isca was illuminated by a second streak of lightning. Her hair billowed in the wind, and the dark clouds circling overhead swirled around only the cliff.

     "Isca! You're alive!" cried Garin joyously. His mood was short-lived, as Scarblade's temper rose quickly.

     "You!" he yelled in an accusing voice. The Lupe snapped his fingers and the crew of the Revenge began assembling themselves. A group of over a thousand appeared all over the cliff. There was still enough room to fit at least two thousand more.

     Isca merely narrowed her eyes and smiled determinedly. "You'd never be able to match a hundred thousand pirate fiends with this army!" Behind her and all around her emerged the Maraquan forces, all having been transformed into land-dwellers. While the leaders of each side growled menacing threats, Caylis, Jacques, and Garin watched helplessly.

     "She'll get herself killed for real this time if she faces him!" the Usul was moaning while pacing behind the bars. "Caylis, can't you use your magic to blast us out of here?"

     The Aisha shook her head. "Of course not! Scarblade cursed the bars, so the only way out is the key. Actually, my magic would work from the outside, but since we can't even stick a finger out..." She suddenly sparked an idea. Caylis lit her hands with the glowing magic, and when she blew softly on it, it drifted silently to her sister in the form of mist. The cue came soon after.

     "ATTACK!" screamed Isca.

     The mob streamed around her as the rain finally began.

     "Water and light falling from the sky? Your world is very strange," Caylis muttered. The battle was only beginning. Maractite clashed with steel, lightning flashed and thunder roared. Jacques could have sworn he felt the mountain shaking due to the force exerted.

     "The place is going to collapse at this rate!" he yelled over the clamor.

     Caylis rounded on him. "Are you insane? This is solid rock we're talking about, not seaweed!"

     A cascade of boulders tumbled from above, barely missing the trio. "Scratch that thought," Garin said nervously.

     Meanwhile, Isca was attempting to ward off Scarblade. She had never been a warrior, but now, of all times, she was a skilled sword fighter. The Aisha snatched up Garin's fallen maractite sword and swung it quickly, blocking the Lupe's blow. They began exchanging them exceedingly quick. Isca found herself cornered against the edge; below her was the sharp drop-off. Caylis's power suddenly registered.

     "Beat this, villainous scum!" she spat. Her eyes and hands glowed the fierce color of lavender. TSEEW! A blinding flash of light shot straight at the captain, lifting him off his feet. He slammed hard into the rock wall inches away from the cage. "I'm no match for you, Scarblade," began Isca, "but I know someone who is!"

     Out of the water behind her emerged King Kelpbeard, floating because of an enchantment. The two leaders narrowed their eyes at each other.

     "We meet again," they growled in unison. The Aisha hastily dashed away. A trio of pirates blocked her path and leered at her. For the second time, Isca's eyes and hands glowed-this time a fiery electric blue. TSEEW! They plummeted off the edge into the raging sea below. She continued on towards Caylis, Jacques, and Garin. The fight raged on all sides. TSEEW! TSEEW! CLANG! BOOM! Sounds rang throughout the battlefield.

     "Stand back," Isca advised them. A short blast enabled them to hop through the opening.

     "Isca, that was amazing!" the Usul exclaimed. He and the Aisha embraced. They broke apart rather quickly and realized that Caylis and Jacques had done the same.

     "You know, sister, I lent you enough magic to last only one shot. I think you might have powers of your own. You still have much to learn, though," she added jokingly.

     Isca then remembered what they had originally set out for. "We still need to free the crew. Come, I saw them on the opposite end."

     As the reunited foursome veered away from the main fighting, the epic battle between King Kelpbeard and Captain Scarblade raged on. The Koi lashed out with maractite, along with curses and shields that were emitting from a large turquoise gem on the hilt of his sword. The Lupe had a different approach, for he felt comfortable with a chipped steel blade and was also firing spells at his opponent. BAM! A curse narrowly missed Kelpbeard and made contact with the solid mountain. At the same time, the king's choice of spell ricocheted off Scarblade's old steel sword. SWOOSH, SWOOSH. The captain swiped at the king. His comeback was mere millimeters from Scarblade's muzzle.

     "Haven't you learned that you can't win, you fat old king?" sneered the Lupe.

     Kelpbeard pointed his blade closer. "It is you who will wish you'd have learned when I'm finished with you, villainous scum!"

     Finally the foursome stumbled upon the imprisoned crew of the Black Pawkeet. "Talak, Bill, Gordy, Jim, you're all here! And all the rest of the crew!" exclaimed Jacques. Isca, Caylis, Garin, and Jacques quickly snapped the chains restraining them.

     "All right men! Let's defeat those filthy pirates once and for all!" declared Caylis. The group of two hundred stormed onward to aid the Maraquan forces. Weakened already by fatigue and fighting, the pirate army was now officially outnumbered.

     "Onward!"

     "Aid our allies and friends!"

     "Die, pirate scum!"

     TSEEW! TSEEW! TSEEW! TSEEW! Isca and Caylis's magic illuminated the night. Once again, the pirates had nothing to combat it and were rendered helpless. Garin exchanged blows with Benny, Jacques was once again fighting Swabby,and the rest of the crew scattered to battle someone elsewhere.

     Captain Scarblade and King Kelpbeard were at a conclusion to who was winning. The Lupe was now cornered against the rock face. "You can't win, and you know it," he said, but the fear on his face was evident.

     "Surrender now, and I will spare you," the king stated.

     Without warning Scarblade howled, a howl that made the fur on the back of Garin's neck prickle. Out of the mist in the water appeared the Revenge. The captain dodged the Koi's blow, and while he was attempting to free it from the stone, he and his fearsome crew leapt from the cliff onto the Revenge.

     "You may have won this time, foolish king, but Maraqua shall fall!" Scarblade roared from the deck. The ominous ship disappeared into the mist once again.

     Cheers rang out. "That was marvelous fighting, my citizens! Of course, we never could have prevailed without the aid of this group."

     Kelpbeard gestured towards the foursome and the crew of the Black Pawkeet.

     "Thank you, sir."

     "You are too kind."

     "It was nothing."

     A moment of silence followed, followed by a rumbling sound.

     Garin declared, "ROCKFALL!"

     The the king hastened to the task of everyone's safety. "Maraquans, in the water! The fall will not kill you as long as you dive in! Garin, I gave your crew each a necklace. Hurry! This mountain is going to collapse!"

     Jacques refrained from saying "I told you so!" to Caylis.

     He leapt off the face and, like the others, landed in the sea with a dive. The Usul was trapped in a pile of boulders. He was uninjured. If he didn't escape soon, the mountain would surely unleash its full fury on him.

     "Isca! Caylis! Help!"

     TSEEW! Caylis blasted the rocks away and grabbed his hand. Garin flung his seaweed necklace around his neck. Together, they plunged into the ocean as the mountain collapsed behind them.

     By morning, the entire Maraquan army was reunited and gathered in the main square. Some had been knocked off the rock face earlier by pirates and merely returned to their undersea forms. Another group had split apart from the others and located Garin's ship. It was located in Scarblade's harbor, the same place it had been the first time around. There had been a battle aboard her decks, too. The Maraquans had easily outnumbered the pirates guarding the Pawkeet, and sailed her over New Maraqua. They had rejoined the rest of the city there. King Kelpbeard gave a grand speech and congratulated his citizens on helping to rescue the crew of the Black Pawkeet. Caylis was again asked if she wished to live in the city. She had accepted, and he presented her with her quarters, which were next to Isca's.

     "Brave Garin, you and your crew will always be welcome here. But you may stay if you wish."

     Isca smiled and turned to face Garin. "I think I already know what the answer is."

     The Usul took her hands in his. "You know I wish I could stay. But I just can't give up pirating."

     "I understand."

     As they turned to leave, the Maraquans waved and bid them farewell.

     The Aisha sisters suddenly glanced at each other and exclaimed to Garin and Jacques, "Wait!" The two of them swam upward. "Mind if we join you?"

     The friends bore quizzical looks. They were obviously wondering how Isca and Caylis could possibly join them. After all, the enchantment had worn off, right? Behind them, King Kelpbeard nodded.

     "The enchantment will work for the rest of your lives."

     "We'll only be gone for a month," assured Isca. "Goodbye, everybody!" When the sisters were aboard the Black Pawkeet, their tails glowed and split neatly in two once again.

     "Isca, you amaze me," Garin said. "I missed you when our last adventure was over."

     "And I missed you, too."

     For one glorious month, Isca and Caylis would sail aboard the Black Pawkeet, learning the ways of land-dwellers and pirates alike. And no matter what would happen, there were sunny skies and smooth seas ahead.

The End