How The Drenched Came To Be: Part Four

      Dread just snickered and rolled her eyes at him. "Don't you think we already took care of your guards? They'll wake to find you back in your bedchamber, probably some time tomorrow. And your subjects won't know that you're gone either. Didn't you know that you sent out a newsletter telling them that you were to negotiate with us in order to find out important information about Maraqua? Because I seem to remember it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Isn't that right, girls?"

      Fortune and Dread nodded their heads and snickered in unison.

      The King's eyes were filled with terror and fear; he didn't know how he'd get out of this way. "How did you get in here anyway?"

      Dread just laughed with her eyes. "Don't you think we've been planning this for a long time? You're going to find out all about Maraqua and how you will lose it. You see, now we all foretell doom; aren't you such a lucky King to know people like us? Why, bad news will never surprise you. Of course, once we foretell it, it's going to happen no matter what you try to do to stop it. And if we're lucky, the people will banish you and we'll be right there to help them along, and it'll all be for the good of Maraqua and we'll do it with only good intentions." Dread laughed at the irony of it all, at how they were finally going to accomplish what they had been trying to do for years.

      "Kelpbeard, you don't have a choice. Either you can go with us peacefully, or there's an alternative. You see, Fortune turns out to be really good with animals and we have a new pet that would be more than happy to help us out should you, unwisely I might add, try to resist us."

      "I'll go, but only because, as you say, I really have no choice."

      The Drenched led the blindfolded King to their lair where they chained him to a piece of coral that they used as a chair.

      "What do you want with me anyway?"

      "We want you to hear all about Maraqua and its fall to the land dwellers, like we said. But first, we'd like you to meet Goregas. You see, he's our faithful pet. Aw, isn't he cute?"

      Before King Kelpbeard's eyes was a huge petpet. He didn't know what it was, but it was even bigger than him, at least three times his size. He was now glad that he hadn't resisted. That thing was the last thing he would have wanted to be chasing after him.

      Fortune, Luck, and Dread became evil with their fury toward Kelpbeard. They never intended to do so, but they were not capable of avoiding it. Over time their power increased and they learned as much as they could and they planned for years upon years for their revenge. They knew it would take time, but they didn't care as long as it was accomplished.

      While Dread was foretelling as much doom as she could, Fortune swam quickly and stealthily into Maraqua where she finally found who she was looking for. She found Caylis and spoke tiny bits of doom to the young child when nobody was around her. Then she went to Isca, and she told Isca of a pet that would be perfect for her, who was named Goregas, and that Goregas would always serve her.

      When Fortune returned to her lair, King Kelpbeard was asleep and Dread asked her where she had been. "Oh, I was just foretelling doom in Maraqua."

      Dread just looked at Fortune, as if analyzing her words, "Fine, but don't do it again. Don't forget that King Kelpbeard is supposed to be talking to us."

      "Don't worry, it was just subtle words to people that were asleep, so that they might have nightmares."

      "Like I said, just don't do it again."

      "Don't worry, I won't."

      "So how did things go with Kelpbeard?"

      "Just fine, he knows so much that he'll burst from the horror of it all, which is just what I wanted. He'll return sometime tomorrow."

      "Perfect, I'm going to go play with Goregas."

      "Fine with me."

      Fortune swam up to her giant pet and played with him. As she played with him, however, she was sure to mention that he should be as nice to Isca as he was to her. He seemed to understand her, so she left him be after she played with him for a little bit longer.

      The King made sure that none of the Drenched were near him, and he called to his guard, the giant Goregas.

     "Aw, you don't really want to obey Fortune, do you? I know someone who's just as Fortune used to be, if you help me you can play with her! Her name is Isca, she'd love to play with you."

      This idea seemed to agree with Goregas who had already been told that he would be allowed to play with Isca, and he allowed King Kelpbeard to go with him to Maraqua where he dropped off the King to Maraqua. "Ok Goregas, you can play with Isca in the morning."

      The King entered his castle and slept until morning, where he readied his guards for any member of the Drenched, though he anticipated Dread because she had the longest standing grudge against him.

      The Drenched woke in the morning to find the King gone. At first Dread was outraged that he had escaped, and even more outraged that Fortune's pet had failed them.

      "This is your fault, Fortune! It's your pet that allowed him to escape!"

      Fortune snapped back at her sister, "Who cares whose fault it is! I told you that one of us should have guarded him because Goregas might fall asleep."

      Luck swam up between them and said angrily, "Stop fighting like such children! It's almost better that he's escaped. All that matters is that he heard the doom we told him and other than that, what matters? Now it looks like he came back some time in the night, not in the morning. That way we won't have to worry about his guards at all."

      Fortune and Dread looked at each other and acknowledged Luck and the truth in what she was saying.

      Dread spoke to Fortune, "Luck's right, I'm sorry."

      Fortune replied, "I'm sorry too."

      The King assembled his whole Kingdom. "I was kidnapped by the Drenched and they foretold doom to me for a very long time, and I know that it will come to pass, but at least I can warn you about it. I urge you to prepare. Maraqua WILL fall to the land dwellers and we cannot avoid it no matter how hard we try, so you must collect everything important to you and transport it. We have found a place for a new Maraqua after it falls. We shall hide everything important to us there and it will be there for us when we rebuild. However, we will have to fight so prepare for that as well. I hate knowing that this will happen, but now I know the severity of the battle, and I will warn you now that many of you will not return from the fight. I would not blame you for fleeing, but I urge you to stay for Maraqua's sake, and my sake."

      One brave subject spoke up for the King to hear. "Can some of us flee, as long as we all don't?"

      The King thought about it for a moment and replied, "I suppose so, but I request that as few people do it as possible, and that the only people who do flee go to our future site of Maraqua."

      "My King, may I go with Isca and Caylis? In case the Drenched try to help the land creatures, I don't want them to get their hands on Caylis or Isca again. They've done enough to them already."

      The King nodded to her as his approval for her. "Yes, you may. In fact, I order that any Maraquans who were blessed but not named by the Drenched go. Anybody that was named by the Drenched, though, I have no jurisdiction over them. When they're blessed and named, they're bound to the person who blessed them. I'm so sorry to Fate and Struggle who I know of specifically, but you may not know the location should Dread or one of her sisters try to force you to tell them. You may only go there blindfolded after the fall of Maraqua, or not at all. I am so sorry to you, but the Drenched have the power to force you to come to them, and I cannot risk the location of our future home, I'm so sorry."

      "I'll bet you are," muttered the listening Fate and Struggle in unison.

To be continued...