“I’ll
assist you once more,” said one of those who went with her to the
Anchor Fields. She was short, or at least shorter than most of the
other pirates upon their ship.
“Good,”
said the female leader. “Steer the way to the Ruby Cage, and let me
know when we are near. I will be resting for a while in my
quarters.”
All their
figures were that of normal people now, of humanoid Astorians. With
what looked visible and solid, not that of salty water and murky
lines, like when they were in the ocean.
Mileena
retired to her own space. Since she was her own captain she had the
biggest room.
Though this
ship was so deep, it resembled more of a mobile house than anything
else. Which is exactly what it was to these women.
Much of the
room beneath was taken up by food, supplies and tools they used to
help assist in keeping the Anchor Men merely alive undersea.
Before
Mileena moved to open her door and saw that the light had been
completely drowned out now. There was no sun out above shining on
the land, nor an odd ray beneath where they lived. It can become a
little task in itself to know for certain whether it would be night
or day; even with a magick sundial, because that only works with
the sun and its rays; magick can only assist so much in all areas
of life.
She saw her
bed at the back of the room. Darkness. Though her eyes lit up as
soon as they met the blackness with a radiant blue.
The captain
looked at the floor. Her bed teased her, knowing that she wanted
what all other life got after a long day, if they were lucky
enough. But her being was not made like others. She didn’t feel the
need to sleep because of a curse put on her people by a now dead
king that once lived in the Silver Cathedral. None of the Water
Spirits did. Though they did still grow tired like any other; they
would instead have to lay down and keep their eyes open and their
mind alive. Never feeling completely rested. And that’s exactly
what Captain Mileena went ahead with doing, as that is all she
could do after all.
She walked
to the back of her quiet, dark space. Her eyes glowed with the
colour her body went when she was in the Shade Sea. A tone of
water, powder blue, but not quite as pale. The captain’s eyes
filled the space with a little light, but was able to see clearly
all around.
The room of
Mileena’s was almost bare. Other than several bookshelves that were
on their side and mountains of books all over the room. A table
with some papers upon, which looked like a map was a part of, and
something else not easily distinguished. And also a bed. Though
this seemed like a lot, the empty space of her room made it look
otherwise.
The captain
jumped off the creaky floorboard she pressed her feet against, and
hit the bed with its wet sheets; just the way a Water Spirit liked
them. A loud bang sounded when she hit the ruffled, old feather
mattress on its oak bed frame. It moved a little, scraping across
the floor with a piercing noise she had become accustomed to.
Mileena
looked at the ceiling made of wooden planks, which was not much of
a sight for her; in fact, it acknowledged what her life was truly
about, only seeing dark wood to look upon—the bars to this job.
This life she could never leave.
Captain
Mileena’s Carrack ship was ruby in places, although most of the
wood was still a dark, rich colour. However, it had handrails and
stairs on the exterior which looked identical to a ruby gemstone
colour and shine. It had outlines of this shine to the parts people
could not see upon this ship, if they were on it, more than they
could. Which gave this transport its natural name, the ‘Ruby
Mermaid’.
This wasn’t
so much a job for the Water Spirits, but a prison for the people
actually looking after the prisoners. They were condemned and
forced upon this labour because of their own crimes of past
piracy.
Mileena
traced the grains of wood across the ceiling, then felt a sudden
force strike against the ship.
“What was
that?” she asked herself quietly. She didn’t move, as she knew her
crew would come for her if something was serious. Feet on the deck
move around frantically above.
The female
captain tried to push her thoughts away, turning to the side to
close her eyes. Trying to get comfortable, she closed her eyes, but
they would not stay closed. Not by choice, but by some will of
magick. Old magick.
The door
opened.
“Captain,
we have a visitor.”
“A
visitor?” she replied, shooting up, raising herself to the
floor.
“You have
to see this,” said the Pirate by the door.
Mileena
left her quarters with another of her own, the pirate leading the
leader to this specific person, the visitor she just told her
about.
“Who are
you?” asked the captain, aggressively.
“An enemy
of your enemy,” she said calmly, as if there was nothing to worry
about. The stranger stood alone.
“Why should
any of us trust anybodies enemy?” replied the leader of the Water
Spirits.
“You
needn’t worry. I’m no outsider, at least not to the Starao planets.
There is no threat here. And the dangers you don’t know won’t make
a difference to the lot of you down here.”
“Still, you
expect me to risk everything I am to help a woman, if you’re even
that.”
“It’s only
treason if the King lives,” she smiled, coyly. “And he will not. I
assure you.” She looked at the captain of the Ruby Mermaid as she
moved again.
Mileena
stepped closer to the woman dressed in black, looking her up and
down. “If you’re so powerful then why do you need us?” The Captain
moved to this visitor to grab her shoulder and speak in a way that
words did not.
“A word of
caution,” said the woman in black stopping the Water Spirit from
touching her just before. “Nobody’s lived after touching me when I
have not permitted it. And that won’t change here today.”
The
captain’s hand stopped midway to the dark material the calm visitor
wore. Her body froze before she shot her own arm down by her side
again.
All the
Water Spirits were watching, as if ready to pounce this visitor if
need be on their captain
’
s command.
“What makes
you think you can win against all of us, and in a place where we
are at our strongest?” said Mileena.
“You can
try my words. Go against them. But the truth of it all,” the woman
in black turned her head around as another Water Spirit came
closer. “Is that I don’t work with tricks.” One of the females was
so close to the woman in black now that she was about to touch her.
“Nobody touches me, spirit,” she said again in a furious tone.
This
terrifying woman thrust her hand forward, as if to hit the female
who pursued the crews patience. Then, a brief darkness emerged,
reeling this female spirit in from it’s vicious air current.
The portal
closed, but the rest of Water Spirits on the Ruby Mermaid all took
several steps back from the woman now.
“If you
know all that you are meant to down here, then you should know
magick is forbidden to be used on our sea,” said captain
Mileena.
“You should
have told that to your friend who pushed my only warning,” reacted
the woman. “If she didn’t provoke me I wouldn’t have needed to use
space magick, other than to go back to the surface. And who gave
you this forbidden malarkey nonsense?”
“The King
himself let us set our own rules on the Shade Sea. Only if we done
the job he asked of us, though.”
“Job? I’d
think more of it as a punishment. You’re slaves, am I right?”
“We may not
like it, but it was better than the alternative,” said the leader
of the Water Spirits. “We’ve broken many rules in the past, and
should have been sent to the Anchor Fields. But instead the King
was merciful. He let us keep our lives.”
“Still,”
replied the woman in black. Her voice was quite deep, and not very
soothing or pleasant to hear. “He has made slaves of the lot of
you—and for the rest of your lives.”
“Better
than the fields,” said Mileena.
“Set me
right if I’ve got this wrong,” the woman moved around, her black
shawl fluttering from a breeze that passed quickly. “You were the
kings, or rather Queens of the sea in your prime. You could have
ruled these parts of the world with ease.” The visitor stopped
walking, but there was no response from what she just said. “I
never pictured the pirates of the old world to be… cowards.”
“You are
swimming in deep waters right now,” replied captain Mileena. You
are outnumbered. I don’t care how good your magick is, it can’t
take all these people out in one stroke.”
“Oh, can’t
it?” she said, still as calm as ever, challenging Mileena before
she changed her mind. “Just stop. I am here to help you take down
the Silver Cathedral. You are the only known beings to know where
it always lies. Other than those who live in it.”
“Let me
guess, you want me to tell you?”
“While were
on the subject, that would be rather nice. And when we have
succeeded in this war, you will be free of this slavery the King
has put upon you.”
“For a
leader of the Shadows, you surely don’t act like one,” said a
pirate.
The visitor
in black turned her head and placed her fierce look at this spirit
who just gave an outburst. It seemed to have been a repellent,
moving all the pirates back.
“There is a
great many things we’re all not told in life, and—it is usually for
our own good, most of the time. Because we make too many mistakes
from knowing them.”
The ‘most
of the time’ of her words lingered with all the pirates. Was she
trying to indirectly threaten them, warn them. Or scare them.
Whatever it was she was doing, it worked.
“What is it
you want from us?” asked the blue haired captain.
“It is not
a one way deal, like I said. You will get what you crave. A
desire—for a desire. A fair play, I would say.”
“Okay then,
what do we do to get our freedom, exactly?” asked Mileena.
“First,
tell me where the Silver Cathedral is. Then we will go from there,”
said the woman in black.
Captain
Mileena pointed to her quarters. “Follow me.” All the pirates
stepped aside, to create a spacious path that opened up
instantly.
The
darkness around them felt blacker and colder; and for Water Spirits
to feel the cold was a rare thing indeed. They all knew something
was terribly wrong in mind, because their bodies are immune to the
physical cold many beings endure.
“There is
something not right with what’s happening here,” said another
pirate out of nowhere. All the Water Spirits got on with steering,
getting to the Ruby Cage so their captain could travel to the
Cathedral still; to tell the King about the disturbance of the
Anchor Fields growing by the hour. Even though their plans might be
changing as they did.
Eleanor
and Christian carried on flying, following the flow of the
canal.
They were
much higher up than before.
Christian
could only just make out the ditch that carried the water.
Eleanor, on
the other hand, saw much more than that; she could even see some of
the canal life from as far as she was away, and noticed there was
more and more trout in a grand supply the farther down the canal
they went.
Though
there was an odd Firefin fish that glowed from beneath; another
creature sacred to Emae.
Which even
Christian could make out, as it radiated from within the water with
a firelike light, like a fire was beneath the liquid somehow. As
far down as the fish were, there was these Firefin lights that
could always be seen from above, and it had no trouble lighting up
quite a large area within the darker depths of the canal.
“Eleanor,”
said Christian looking ahead. The male continued to look at the
mass of trout running from a rainbow shark.
She replied
with a, “yeah.”
“Can you
see what that is in front of us?” replied the boy.
She then
brought her attention to eye level, pushing herself to the side a
little to see what he was talking about.
“It looks
like…” she stopped herself, not sure if she believed she was
correct. Eleanor waited. Then, the picture became perfectly clear
with what was in front of them. “War swans. And they are coming our
way.”
“Do you
think they are after us?” said Christian.
“It’s
possible. I guess anybody would know we would go to Swansie. It’s
the only safe city left.”
“We just
have to wait to find out,” said Christian with a little uncertainty
in his voice. “I think I’ll pray now.”
“You are
darn well not,” yelled Eleanor. “We will plummet straight into the
ground if you let go of the rains. These swans maybe powerful and
graceful in one beautiful package, but they are as obedient as
their user. And if you let the reins go—we will die for sure. If
anybody should pray it should be me. Creating that fire shield
totally wiped me out. I didn’t even know if I could do it whilst
moving. I guess I am making good progress, like my Master said.”
Christian said nothing, and just waited for the large wings to get
even larger ahead, in front.
A further
ten minutes later they could see people on the swans, and
reasonably well; even Christian could see their features, though
not in great detail, seeing mere colours at this point. Whereas
Eleanor could see items with colours, patterns, clothing, though
still not an exact face she could recognise.”
Two of the
swans passed, and they had a man on one and a female on the other.
They had not seen either of them before, but when the third swan
passed overhead the two children recognised who it was
immediately.