Cavern and Coterie

We arrive at the docks at sunrise the following morning.

As we proceed toward the lit ship, Vol rubs his eyes and groans.

"Uhgg."

"Is everything okay?" Elizabeth asks.

"He's fine. He's just not a morning person," I explain.

"Why did I agree to going this early?" he sighs, sounding exhausted, "Why didn't I just ask Eve to delay it a few hours..."

I'm a bit groggy, too, but I'm doing a lot better than Vol.

As we head toward the ship, we spot a tall woman in a blue coat and a triangular hat. She greets us as we get closer. She speaks in an accent that sounds vaguely Russian to me.

"Good morning, pentos."

Her skin is a pale white and I notice that her ears are short and round, meaning that she's human.

"Good morning," Vol says, stretching and standing up more properly now that we're in company.

"We leave, 10 minute. OK?" she asks as we walk up the bridge to the deck of the ship.

"Of course. Thank you."

After leaving port, Vol and Elizabeth get a mild case of seasickness, which lasts the first few hours. Once they get better, we eat lunch together.

Afterwards, Vol and I nap for a few hours while Elizabeth polishes her sword. I've never seen her do that before. I wonder if it's her way of calming her nerves. I suppose she must be concerned about her brother.

I'm not particularly attached to them, personally, but I don't like seeing Elizabeth unhappy. They weren't entirely incompetent, either. Though obviously not nearly as strong as any one of us, they always struck me as capable.

I can't help but wonder who'd be able to take them out.

In the afternoon, the tall woman who turns out to be the captain - her name is Irene - enters our cabin.

"You see Cavern now. Come up."

Despite the slightly cloudy and foggy afternoon, the mountain in front of us is impossible to miss. It seems to be growing directly out of the ocean with no land around it.

We enter the mountain through a hole in the side, which leads into the port, the fog seeming to clear around us.

"Fog is defense system. Keep away bando."

"Bando?" I ask.

"Eh... thief. Ocean thief."

"You mean pirates?"

"So, so, pirate."

Vol jumps in to aid, significantly more awake now, "Cavern is covered in fog to hide its archers, magicians and lookouts."

True, I can vaguely sense some places with emanating mana beyond the fog.

"That's quite clever," I say, "It'd be hard to see individual people through the fog, but ships are easy targets."

Irene nods, "Bando never attack here. Only on ocean. Make safer. Ocean very large. Ship always take new route, so hard to find for banditing."

It can be hard to tell across language barriers sometimes, but the captain strikes me as being pretty clever.

It sounds like the ships don't follow predetermined routes, though, which leaves the question of how somebody managed to capture three ships in a row.

An insider? If so, it's either somebody on the ship or somebody on Cavern.

"Keep your eyes open for anybody watching us," I tell Vol and Elizabeth.

The look on their faces tells me that they've already had the same thought.

After docking in Cavern, we stand watch close by as the crew begin loading crates of metals onto the ship. Could somebody be hiding in the crates?

I glance over at Vol and Elizabeth and notice both of them already following the crates with their narrowed eyes. The three of us might be very different, but when it comes to security, we're on the same page.

I don't get to see much of Cavern, but its population appears to consist primarily of dwarves and draconi. The entire town seems to be built into the mountain, wasting as few resources as possible. All the buildings are formed out of the same cliff rock that the mountain is, and they attach directly to the floor. I'm guessing the houses weren't constructed, but mined out.

We take our leave in the late afternoon as the sun starts to set. Apparently, the entire trip lasts almost 24 hours.

Back on the ship, we take a moment to discuss strategy.

"We'll probably be attacked on our way back," I say, "It'll be harder to spot approaching ships in the dark and the crew have been working all day, so they'd be at a disadvantage in a battle."

Elizabeth and Vol agree.

"I'll stay up here," I say, "The few spells I can cast with the manacaster won't be much use down in the hull."

We decide to split up. While I keep watch up here, Elizabeth will check the crates for unwanted guests. In the mean time, Vol will keep watch in the crews quarters, using the excuse of being seasick again.

Time passes. Nobody has crawled out of the crates.

The sun sets. Nobody has left the crews quarters.

Night falls. Nobody has appeared on the horizon.

As we near the halfway point between Cavern and Tayde, I begin to wonder if anybody will actually show up. Then, without warning, there's a sudden pressure of mana.

It's not like the pressure of the greater monsters or the concentrated mana of Vol. These are all different signatures. All decently strong.

How many are there?

More than 5. More than 10. Maybe 20?

I spin around for the source, looking out over the horizon.

25?

Nothing on this side. Nothing on the other. I run up the stairs to the helmsman and look out over the water.

Or 30?

There are no ships on the horizon and no land of any kind. The light of the moon glints off something in the water, causing me to look down.

A massive bubble of swirling water, easily the size of a ship, is slowly rising out of the ocean. The moonlight passes through it on its way up, the light splitting and refracting onto the side of the ship in rainbow-colored waves.

Okay.

I won't lie.

That's pretty awesome.