Child of the Drenched: Return to the Depths - Part Six

     Mara's running feet thundered on the wooden boards of the pier, startling the Orange Wocky who sat there. Talak jumped to his feet, dropping the book he was reading into the water.

     "Oh, curses! Mara, you startled me, running up like a herd of wild Island Whinny," Talak sighed, putting a hand to his chest. "What's the commotion about? Someone chasing you?"

     Mara walked to the edge of the pier and felt the water below her, locating the book sinking towards the sandy sea floor. She pushed it up with a jet of water and pulled it out of the stream. She flipped through it, pulling the water out of every page before handing it back to him.

     "I liked that one, the stories are fun. Sorry about that," Mara apologized.

     "Eh, no harm done it seems. It always amazes me what you can do with your powers, Mara," Talak said with a grin.

     Jacques joined them and greeted Talak.

     "So, how did the Black Pawkeet come to be at Zephyr?" Jacques asked.

     "Isca sent word that you two had gone to Faerieland from Zephyr and would probably return from here. Since we put up here sort of regularly, Garin decided it wouldn't be strange for us to come and pick you up. We got here just an hour or two ago. He sent me down to wait to see if you showed up on the Eyrie Taxi. He was rather curious for an update on your mission. He filled me in on what's going on. I don't suppose you have good news?" Talak asked hopefully.

     "We have news; whether it is good or bad is still up in the air," Mara said. "We need to go talk to Garin as soon as possible."

     "Okay then, climb in," Talak said, waving his hand at the rowboat tied to the pier.

     The three jumped down into the boat and Jacques and Talak reached for oars. Mara laughed at them.

     "You are so adorably quaint," Mara teased as she leaned over and stuck her hand in the water. A wave rose up behind them and started pushing the boat towards the Black Pawkeet.

     "And you are such a show off," Jacques replied. "Right down to the whole hand in the water thing, I know you don't need to do that."

     "I'm not about to complain," Talak said, leaning back and enjoying the ride.

     When the rowboat pulled up alongside the ship, the crew threw down a rope ladder. Jacques climbed up first and then Mara followed. Garin grinned at them and clasped Jacques' shoulder.

     "Tell me the good news," he said with his usual good natured grin.

     "Well," Mara said, feeling reluctant to break the news. "I, uh..."

     "It's not so great, Garin," Jacques said, taking the map from Mara's bag.

     He walked over to a barrel sitting on the deck and smoothed it out. Garin walked over and took a look.

     "Here is what we've learned. We need a certain water faerie to help us break the curse on Kelpbeard. As she hasn't appeared of her own accord, Fyora is certain that she must be being held against her will. Scarblade is behind this, meaning he's probably the one holding her," Jacques explained, pointing to the location on the map.

     "That's not too far from here," Garin said frowning. "We're lucky we didn't cross them on our way here."

     "Scarblade will probably have everything he's got guarding her. Keeping that faerie out of it is key to making sure everything goes according to his plan. We need to free her, and fast. If we go back to Maraqua and rally an army to take the place, Scarblade will almost certainly hear about it. He might move her, and then we'll never find her in time to save Kelpbeard," Mara continued, taking up where Jacques had left off.

     "Okay then, what's really the problem here?" Garin asked. "Remember the last time we had a run in with Scarblade with you on board? You're much stronger than you were then."

     "Yes, everyone was on the surface, then. All I did was call up a tidal wave and push his ship as far as I could. As spectacular as that looked, it was nothing really. And, that little show drained me to the breaking point. I fainted from exhaustion. Under the water, I can do more, but fighting an army, even a small one, is not something I can do single-handedly. Magic has limits too, one of them being my life," Mara explained.

     "Okay," Garin said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the barrel, looking at the map again. "So, we need to summon some help without alerting Scarblade that we know what he is up to. Goregas has been circling the waters around Zephyr the entire time we've been here. I'm guessing he was waiting for you. We could send him back with a message. If we march in and take Scarblade on, we could possibly keep him there until the Maraquans show up."

     She looked at the map again and frowned. "That's a good plan, Captain, but it'll only work if we keep him busy under the water too. We're going to need more help for that. Someone who can get there in time, and without alerting Scarblade that they are coming. I think I know just who we can call on."

     "Who?" Garin asked.

     "My mothers," Mara said with a savage grin.

     Garin and Jacques looked at each other uncertainly. Mara walked to the side of the ship and called up a handful of water. She held it, cupped in her hands, for half a minute, her eyes closed in concentration. Suddenly, the water leapt from her hands and into the ocean below. She turned back to face the Captain and First Mate.

     "Well, that's done. They'll get the message and be there in plenty of time. That takes care of the undersea fight as best we can. I'll go down and locate Goregas and give him a message to take to Isca and the Maraquans. I guess the rest is up to you two. You're the experts on ship to ship fighting, and you'll want a plan before we go charging into there," Mara said.

     "Or, maybe that is the plan," Garin said, his rash grin breaking out again.

     ***

     Mara frowned as she watched the other sailors roll the cannons out below decks. She was supposed to be supervising the preparations, but she was finding it hard to to concentrate. The coming battle weighed heavy on her mind. She'd never been in a real sea battle, not since the day she landed on the ship a few years ago. There was the occasional minor skirmish with other pirates or merchant ships that refused to surrender without a fight, but nothing massive.

     They had put up white sails to give the appearance of a merchant vessel. It allowed them to make it much closer to the Revenge than they would have otherwise. The Revenge would be ready for a fight, regardless of when her crew realized that she was under attack.

     The Revenge had been sighted and they were already closing the gap, but the moment the Revenge got wise that they were getting too close, they had to be ready to fight.

     "Lock that down!" she shouted to one of the newer sailors, snapping her mind back to the present. He scrambled to do what he was told.

     She glanced around, all the other cannons were in position and ready.

     From above, the dreaded cry came. "Battle positions!"

     Mara hurried up the stairs, racing through the holds to reach the deck. She came out on deck just as they started turning to bring the cannons in range of the other ship. The Revenge was already rolling out her cannons.

     "Fire!" Garin shouted, his cry being relayed by several voices throughout the ship.

     The battle started with a roar of cannons, Mara couldn't tell who fired first. Cannonballs from the Revenge sailed towards the Black Pawkeet. Instinctively, Mara shot jets of water out of the ocean to blast them off course.

     Garin grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her, shouting over the din, "Save your strength for the pirates below. We've got this. Get going."

     He gave her a shove towards Jacques, and Jacques caught her. Together, they ran over to the other side of the ship, away from the cannon fire. They dived over the edge of the ship and into the ocean. Jacques pulled out his sword and Mara grabbed his other hand. Ahead of them, in their path, stray cannon balls and debris were sinking into the depths. Mara propelled them along, using the water to speed up their travel and protect them from the debris.

     It wasn't long before the sea caves where Amalithia made her home came into view. Ahead of it, at least forty pirates waited, their swords drawn and ready. Jacques and Mara stopped and waited.

     "I don't see Scarblade," Jacques said. "We didn't see him anywhere; he might still be up on the ship. Where do you think he is?"

     "No, I'm certain he'd stay inside with her, as the last line of defense. The main cave inside the cover, you can just see it there." She pointed to one of the caves. "It serves as an entry hall. Off it there are many caves where she makes her home. One of them has an air pocket, like where my mothers kept you at our home. He'll have her in the air pocket, she's weaker away from the water."

     "How do you know that?" Jacques asked.

     "I don't know, but I do. I just know the layout. Trust me," Mara said trying to sound confident in spite of feeling almost panicked by the fact that she knew something that made no sense to her.

     "You know I do," Jacques said. "Where is our back up?"

     "They're here. Just wait for the screaming to start," Mara replied, a dark smile curling her lips. "We'll wait for their cue."

     The screaming started rather quickly. The pirates swam forward, rushing at the seemingly helpless pair. One of them snapped backwards mid-stroke, caught by something. He turned to look, coming face to face with the grinning countenance of the youngest Drenched sister. He started screaming as he tried to squirm out of her grip.

     The other pirates turned to look as the other two sisters rushed them from behind. The screaming was infectious, all of the pirates losing their nerve in the face of the dreaded sea witches.

     "That's our cue!" Mara cried.

     She thrust her arms out in front of her and them swung them apart, as if pushing away something as quickly as possible. Ahead of her, the disorganized pirates spun and tumbled through the water clearing a path straight forward. Mara grabbed Jacques' hand and they shot forward through the clearing in the water and towards the caves.

     "My mothers will ensure that we are not attacked from behind. Our job is to get through Scarblade and free Amalithia. Ready for that?"

     "Let's find out!" Jacques cried.

     They swam into the cove and stopped, Mara releasing Jacques hand and looking about. She raised her hands in a defensive position, feeling the water, trying to find him. She felt no presences nearby except Jacques.

     "He's not here," Mara said, perplexed.

     "Yes, he is. He's watching us in the shadows, there," Jacques said, pointing to the mouth of the cave.

     "I can't feel him in the water. I can feel every living thing in a half mile radius but him," Mara said, a chill creeping down her spine.

     "He's a bit of a sorcerer too, Mara. Cloaking himself so that no one gets the jump on him is only natural," Jacques told her.

     She nodded and raised her arms into a fighting stance.

     "We know you're there, Scarblade! Come out!" she demanded.

     "Oh, foolish child. You spurned my good graces once and now you aid the band of reprobates you serve in interfering with my plans once again. This is a dangerous game you play."

     "We're not playing games, Scarblade," Jacques snarled.

     Scarblade swam out into the open, his smile as sharp as his cutlass. "Regardless, you'll lose today. You'll lose everything, even your life."

     Mara screamed with rage, pulling her arm back and swinging it forward like a punch in a fist fight. The stream of water she directed at Scarblade would have been enough to incapacitate a Grarrl. Scarblade was blown back a few steps, but he stayed standing. He looked up at her, his smile even more chilling, and her blood ran cold.

     "You can't feel me, your strongest attacks can barely hurt me, and they sent you as their champion? What fools you all are," he laughed.

     "All the magic in the world won't prevent you from being outnumbered. I know you can't use magic like I can or you would have. You may be able to enchant your ship, and create barriers to protect yourself from my magic, but you'll have to fight us sword to sword," Mara said, pulling out her cutlass.

     "I am a forgiving soul-" Scarblade started.

     "Rubbish," Jacques spat.

     "True, but exceptions can be made. I'll spare your life sea witch, if you'll join my crew and serve me," Scarblade offered.

     "It'll sooner snow in Moltara than I'll join you," Mara snarled.

     "A pity that we'll have to lose potential like yours," Scarblade snarled.

     He launched himself forward so fast Mara inadvertently recoiled. Jacques brought up his blade, catching Scarblade's and preventing him from bringing Mara to harm. She took a swipe at Scarblade but he jumped backwards.

     She was too slow in the water with her cutlass. She tried to think of a spell that would cut down on the resistance of the water on her blade, but that wasn't something she'd ever trained for. She could have kicked herself now for not thinking of what a useful trick that would be should they ever tangle with Scarblade beneath the waters like the crew of the Black Pawkeet had done once before.

     "Mara, head in the game," Jacques cried, shoving her back as Scarblade once again came too close.

     "I'm so sorry. I never thought I'd be this useless," Mara said, but managing to parry Scarblade's next attack. Jacques took a swipe at his head but the Lupe ducked under it. Mara raised her sword and brought it down on Scarblade's. She used the water around her, trying to force the blade from his hands. Scarblade held out for a moment, then dropped, letting her force him down. The sudden lack of resistance threw Mara off balance. She stumbled forward and rolled, flipping onto her back.

     Scarblade brought his cutlass down, but she pushed the sword back with the water around her. She was now the one holding off incredible force as Scarblade tried to push through.

     "Jacques!"

     He was there taking a swing at the pirate captain. Scarblade had to cease his attack on Mara to counter Jacques. Mara propelled herself back through the water to a safe distance. The two of them were really going at it, their Maractite swords cutting through the water like it was air.

     Jacques had the full attention of Scarblade. Mara realized that this was her chance. She started to swim for the opening to the cave. She couldn't help turning to look back over her shoulder as she swam. At that moment, Scarblade parried Jacques' slice, throwing his sword arm back behind him.

     This opened him wide to an attack from Scarblade. Mara realized this just in time and reacted. She spun around, feeling the water around Jacques. She made the water seize him and carry him backwards, fast enough to avoid the blade and far enough to have time to regain his balance before Scarblade would be capable of reaching him again.

     Only, he wasn't going for Jacques. Saving Jacques had left her distracted and open to attack. Scarblade closed the distance between them too fast. Mara didn't have enough time to react. She tried, a burst of water to push him back, but it wasn't strong enough. He had too much momentum, his sword plowing through the current towards her. Mara felt a great force hit her in the abdomen. A curious numbness spread through her.

     She heard Jacques screaming her name, but it seemed far away to her. All that she could focus on was how close Scarblade's leering face was to her. She needed to get him away. Mara placed her hand almost against Scarblade, using the force of the water to propel him back away from her. There was a red light in his eyes and a sadistic smile on his lips as he allowed the water to carry him backwards.

     As they parted, a terrific pain ripped through her abdomen and the water around her clouded with red. She put her hand to abdomen and winced, then looked to Jacques. The look on his face said what she dreaded. She needed to get to Amalithia while there was still time.

     "Hold him off!" Though her lips moved, no sound came out.

     Jacques reached Scarblade with a scream of rage; their swords rang as they met. Scarblade was forced to one knee by the sheer force of Jacques' furious strength. Mara couldn't stay to watch. She'd had to hope Jacques could hold him off long enough.

     She turned and swam into the cave, pain and exhaustion growing with every second. The cave rose into the air pocket she knew would be there, the place where Amalithia was imprisoned. Mara used the water to propel her over the ledge and onto the shelf of rock.

     She crashed onto the ledge, rolling to a stop just feet from the water faerie. Amalithia lay there, bound by chains enchanted to keep her from using her magic. She looked at Mara and gasped in horror.

     "Oh, Delia!" Amalithia sobbed. "No!"

     Mara knew her time was quickly running out. She crawled forward and grabbed a hold of the chain, using her magic to break both the enchantment and the links.

     That action cost her the last of her strength. She collapsed to the ground, her body completely numb. Her sight became blurry, and the sounds around her muted. All she could hear was a loud ringing. That faded away only too quickly, and her vision to black. There was a brief moment of panic before she faded away.

To be continued...