The Sorceress: Part Two

     Shami snapped her fingers. “I know you, you're captain Garin!” She turned to her siblings. “You know, Troy’s idol?”

     Their brother, Flyer_Troy, worshipped Garin. His room was full of posters and the only books he ever read with interest were the ones about pirates.

     Garin was taken aback by this statement. Most people trembled in fear when they saw a pirate ship. And these were girls!

     “I ask you again. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t lock you up or throw you overboard.”

     “It’s simple, really,” Shedars replied. “If you do that, I hurt you.”

     Garin scoffed. “And what is a little Xweetok going to do against a whole crew?”

     Shedars glared at him. “So, you’re going to hide behind your crew like a coward! And even if I was taking on all of you, I’d still win!”

     “Care to back that up?”

     “If you dare to take me on, Captain.”

     Garin went for his maractite dagger, but stopped. “I can’t hit a girl!” he exclaimed.

     “Guess what?” Shedars said. “I can hit you.” She hit him with her tail and sent him sprawling to the ground.

     “You fight okay. All right, I won’t throw you overboard.” Garin figured they might be useful one way or another.

     “Glad you see it my way.”

     ***

     Shedars explained what had happened.

     “So I suppose you want transport to Krawk Island,” Garin said.

     “That’s exactly what we want,” Shami said.

     Jacques was standing behind Garin. “You’re in for disappointment then. We’re not going to Krawk Island for two weeks at least.”

     “Krawk Island is quite near here!” Lallinara protested.

     “Look, if you’re going to travel on my ship, you have to go by my rules. And one of those rules is that we make no detours.”

     Shedars didn’t want to push it. “Fine, but just two weeks, no more.”

     Garin mumbled something about ‘Scarblade finding out’ and walked away. Jacques looked them over. “You’ll be sleeping below deck. Come on, I’ll show you.”

     ***

     Later that night, there was a full moon. The only people on deck were Shedars, Lurina, and though they didn’t know it, Garin. He had been suspicious about them from the start. The storm had been fierce and there was little chance anyone thrown overboard would have survived. He hid behind a barrel and listened to the conversation.

     “Hurry up, Shedars!” Someone said in a whisper. Garin assumed it was that striped Xweetok called Lurina or something.

     “I AM hurrying!”

     “Hurry faster! I thought I heard something just now!”

     There was a flash of green. Garin looked over the top his hiding place. This light was strange. It glowed brightly, but instead of illuminating objects, it made them darker. He gulped. This was dark faerie magic. It enveloped that ghost Xweetok and for a second, she solidified into a Xweetok with green and purple fur.

     “It looks amazing, doesn’t it?”

     Garin jumped and turned to the sound. He saw that Shami was kneeling beside him. How she had managed to sneak upon him, he had no idea.

     “Your name’s Shamikatzu, isn’t it?”

     “Yes, but call me Shami.”

     Garin looked thoughtfully at her. “You remind me of Jacques.”

     “Of course I do. I’m a Red Kyrii like him, after all.”

     “No, it’s more than that. You have the same look in your eyes, a want for adventure.”

     Shami smiled and looked at Shedars. The light was mostly gone now, and Shedars was finishing up her chant. “You don’t have to be scared of her. She may be a dark faerie’s apprentice, but she’s very nice.”

     The light was completely gone now, and Lurina and Shedars were heading below deck. Garin realized this a bit too late. Any second now, they would pass see him as they passed. His head filled up with horror images of what Shedars might do.

     Shami must have noticed this. “I told you there’s no need to be afraid of her!” Then she did something that nearly made Garin’s system shut down. She stood up and talked to them.

     “Hey, girls, you can sleep easy. The Captain doesn’t miss a trick!”

     Garin stood up beside her, a bit embarrassed. He avoided the two Xweetoks’ glares. He didn’t usually back down like this, but the sight of Shedars freaked him out a little. She looked scary in the moonlight, especially with that slight green glow.

     They left together. Garin couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved.

     “I told you not to follow them,” Jacques said. He was slightly better at stealth than Garin.

     Garin sighed. “I know you did. But my guess was right, wasn’t it? The ghost isn’t normal!”

     Jacques grinned. “Ghosts usually aren’t!”

     ***

     Scarblade (bet you were thinking when he’d make his appearance, huh?) scowled. He was thinking of his humiliating defeat at the hands of Garin. His crew was wisely keeping their distance.

     “Captain Scarblade, I brought it inside as quickly as I could!”

     Scarblade turned. It was Benny. He was holding... a pink petpet. The Bruce tugged at an envelope in the creature’s beak. He freed it and gave it to Scarblade, who tore it open. It was from that wimpy Gelert who lived on Krawk Island.

     He had been allowed to live as he usually provided Scarblade with good information. Scarblade read the letter.

     ***

     Meanwhile, on the Black Pawkeet, Garin was deciding what to do with those girls. They helped around the ship and earned their keep, but he was still a bit apprehensive about Shedars. The Ghost Xweetok rarely used her hands to do anything, but instead levitated everything. It was a bit unnerving.

     Shami was swabbing the deck. Suddenly, the mop levitated out of her hands. She saw Shedars in the corner, grinning. Shami giggled too. “Look, I’m levitating the mop!”

     ***

     Unknown to Shami, someone had seen it. That someone was a pirate uni flying overhead, who belonged to Scarblade’s crew. His orders had been to look for magic.

     The letter had contained information about a magical disturbance on the sea. There were always some traces of magic in the sea, mostly water faeries. But this disturbance was (somewhat tainted) dark faerie magic. In Scarblade’s mind, dark was always equal to evil. And as the magic was tainted he had come to the conclusion that this was a neopet, not a faerie. The disturbance was, of course, Shedars. Scarblade’s plan was to recruit the neopet and after defeating Garin, to destroy Maraqua.

     The Uni only saw Shami next to the levitating broom and concluded that she was the one who possessed powers. He flew back to report it to Scarblade.

     ***

     Scarblade didn’t believe it. Somehow, every time he found something of limitless power, Garin always got to it first. He began making plans for the attack. In between, he smiled maliciously. There were five females aboard Garin’s ship. He must have been going soft.

     ***

     Garin was looking at the sunset. There was a sudden cry behind him.

     “Captain, the Revenge has been sighted! Scarblade is coming towards us!” It was Talak, the orange Wocky.

     “What? Prepare for battle.” A thought struck him. If Scarblade caught sight of those girls... “And get those girls below deck.”

     “Oh, you’re not going to do that.” Shedars materialized beside him.

     Garin stared at her. “How long have you been there?”

     Shedars shrugged. “A while... Anyway, you’re not sending us below deck. All of us, except Shami, can help you fight.”

     Garin grudgingly agreed, as he knew they’d probably just come up during the battle anyway. “Why can’t Shamikatzu fight?”

     “She’s a bit weak. And don’t call her Shamikatzu to her face if she’s told you to call her Shami.”

     “Okay... you get into the crow’s nest and zap them from there. Tell your friends to grab a sword. They can fight with a sword, can’t they?”

     “Well, Lori can’t and Lalli’s not too bad, but Lurina is awesome!”

     “What is the Uni going to do, then?”

     “Her hooves are like maractite.”

     Garin grinned, though he didn’t know why. “Those pirates will wish they’d stayed in bed today!”

     ***

     The Revenge drew up beside the Black Pawkeet and the deck was soon a battle field. Garin noticed that every time an opponent’s blade came too close to one of his crew, their own blade glowed green and lifted up, blocking the blow. After a while the green grew a bit faint. This was alarming. They were outnumbered and without that magic, they would surely lose.

     He was surprised by the skill the Striped Xweetok displayed. Lurina. Her blade was a blur as she fought. Nowhere near as good as he was, but still good. The Blue Xweetok Lallinara, on the other hand, was having a bit of trouble. The Uni Loranisa flew overhead, fighting with one of Scarblade's Unis. Now and then, she would dip down and kick someone on the head. Garin wouldn’t say it, but they were pretty good.

     There was a green flash directly from the crow’s nest. It shot above Garin’s head and there was a scream of agony behind him. He whirled around and saw a pirate Gelert clutching his head, with a club beside him. Garin gulped. If he had been hit with that...

     He was shaken out of his thoughts when he saw Benny heading to the crow’s nest. Lurina, who was beside him, saw it too. “Oh no!” she gasped. “Dari can take care of herself, but Shami!”

To be continued...