He turned and we followed him down the dock and onto the boat as the last crate was loaded. The otter-kin nodded to the dwarven man and the others aboard, all leaving except two. They walked over to a small boat affixed to the side of the vessel, leaning against the rail.

  The rest of the crew was an assortment of races, but they were all small. Three scarred dwarves bustled around the deck, securing lines and arguing about something in a language I didn’t understand. A gnome walked out of a doorway built into the elevated back deck and began climbing a rope ladder up the main mast of the ship. He wore a bandana and had large, golden hoop earrings. Two wood elves, the tallest of the lot, stood at the helm. One of them approached our party as we stepped upon the boat.

  “Ello’ there!” she called. Her hair was a long bundle of dreadlocks that hung halfway down her back. She wore a wide-brimmed hat and wore loose-fitting clothing with leather shoes. A curved scimitar hung at her waist.

  “Hail, captain!” The dwarf called, bowing. “These’re the adventurers to accompany us to sea!”

  “Good, good. Thanks for keepin’ an eye out, Jericho. You can head on down, double check the cargo before we head out.” She turned facing us. “I’m Ionda Wavechaser, captain of this beautiful vessel, the Wave’s Mistress. Welcome! Welcome aboard! We cast off in ten minutes. Lots to do. Get with Lonny, he will get you situated.”

  She turned and hurried away, shouting orders to the crew in preparation. The gnome climbed back down from the rope ladder, a frayed bit of rope held in one hand. He tossed it over the side of the boat.

  “Hullo,” his voice was very deep and a sharp contrast to his small size. “Had to change out a bit o’ rigging. Names Lonny, good to meet yeh all.”

  He made his way down the group, shaking everyone’s hand. He wore thick leather gloves and a long sleeved shirt. I noticed a scimitar strapped to his back. It looked massive on him.

  “Nice to meet you,” Arlo intoned as he shook hands. “The Captain said you would recommend a place for us?”

  “Aye, aye. Want to keep ya out of the line of sight, won’t do no good they get scared off. Here, this way.”

  The gnome led us through the door that Jericho had vanished through moments before, built into the elevated structure along the back of the ship. Lanterns with small glowing wisps illuminated the room beyond. It was a small corridor with two doors to the left and a set of stairs leading into the ship’s belly at the end of the hall.

  “Door’s here go to the Captain’s quarters and the Guest’s quarters. Ain’t got no guests this trip, so you lot will stay there, out o’ sight, till either you’re needed or we get far enough to send ya back.”

  He walked over to the second door and opened it, gesturing for us to enter. Arlo was first, and nodded to the man as he walked into the room. Abernathy was second, and I was third. I walked into the room, which would be cramped with all of us inside. A box bed was bolted to one wall, affixed to a hinge and currently tied and bound vertically to the wall. A table and two benches were similarly bound against the wall opposite the door. An empty chest with the lid partially open sat against the left wall. The whole room couldn’t be more than ten by ten feet.

  “What’s down the stairs?” Hannah asked as she walked into the room.

  “Crews quarters, supplies, merchandise. Nothing to concern you down there.” He replied. “Just hang out here until you hear me, or someone else from the crew, callin’.”

  “What is the code word?” Arlo asked in a low, conspiratorial voice.

  “Code word? What, are ye daft? Ain’t no code word. Pirates. That’s the word. You hear the crew start shoutin' 'pirates', you wait a minute then come on out.”

  Arlo coughed into his hand. “Right, right. That makes sense.”

  Katarina chuckled. “Pleasant little fella, aren’t ya?”

  Lonny turned, a dangerous glint to his eye, one hand going to a dagger I hadn’t noticed before, strapped horizontally across his lower back. “What’d you say, miss?”

  “Oh, nothing, nothing. Sorry.” Katarina blushed, waving her hands. “Don’t want any trouble.”

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  “Watch yur words then,” he spat, walking away from the door and back to the deck.

  “Pleasant fellow,” Abernathy whispered. Katarina chuckled.

  “Think you could play that new song successfully?” Arlo asked.

  “Successfully? Maybe one in five tries, if I’m lucky. Not enough to reliably keep us hidden.”

  “Fair enough, that’s ok,” he replied. “Shouldn’t need it, seems our position here should be enough to keep us out of eyesight.”

  Hannah stuck her head out of the open door, looking around. “No one around the hall here, I’m gonna have a peek below.”

  Elsetha started to object, but Hannah made a few gestures with one hand and shadows gathered around her, blurring her at the edges and hiding her features. She blended in with the shadows, crouching, and stepped out of the room.

  “Just don’t get caught,” Elsetha whispered, breathing heavily through her nose. “Last thing we need is to make the crew mad.”

  As if on queue, members of the crew began shouting on board.

  “What did she do,” Elsetha started.

  “Nothing, they are shouting because we are casting off,” Tobias replied, standing near the door and listening. Lesh fidgeted on his shoulder, nestling his head back beneath a wing.

  “ ...them otters to be careful with the cargo. Missing a crate. A whole crate. Awful business. Can’t wait to be — oh! Hi there” Jericho laughed nervously, walking past the room from below decks. “Didn’t see you all. Sounds like we are casting off, need to have a quick word with the Captain.” He nodded, hurrying down the hall and out on deck.

  I moved around, trying to get a line of sight through the open door and out the other door leading to the deck. It wasn’t possible. We would need to leave the room and be out in the hall to get eyes on the deck.

  The ship swayed slightly as we disembarked. Elsetha made a gurk sound with the back of her throat and shifted, holding her mouth.

  Katarina opened a small, circular window built into the cabin’s wall and gestured. “If you’re gonna be sick, do it out there. Please don’t stink up this tiny room.”

  Elsetha complied, moving across the room with hurried, shaky steps as the ship began a rhythmic side-to-side motion. She stuck her head out the window and was sick. The loud sound, more than the motions of the vessel, made my stomach knot up.

  I performed Radiant Winds, hoping the healing properties of the song would do something about Elsetha’s sea-sickness. I lost my footing and failed the first performance, but regained my footing and managed to complete the second try at 75%.

  Six small orbs drifted across the room, weaving amongst the other members of the team. Hannah was holding Elsetha’s hair back as she continued throwing up. I sent the magic into Elsetha’s back, around where I thought her stomach would be. They sank into her back, illuminating her robes briefly.

  She moaned softly, backing into the room slightly. “Thank you so much Chanter, that feels much better.”

  Elsetha took some water from her water skin and swished it, spitting it out the window.

  “Mind hitting me with a bit of that?” Abernathy asked, “I’m feeling a little queezy too.”

  “Sorry, it has a minute cooldown. Can you wait?” I eyed the small timer that popped up in my HUD, counting down from a minute. A helpful indication of when I could perform the song again successfully.

  “Yeah, I think so. Just feel a little sick is all.” He replied.

  “I think I might need it again too,” Elsetha said softly. “I’m starting to feel a little sick again.”

  “I should be able to split up the healing, sucks it isn’t a cure but… at least it helps.” I frowned.

  “It helps so much, really. I thought I was dying,” Elsetha laughed softly. “The feeling when the song hit me. It was like a warm wave just washed the dizziness and discomfort away.”

  “That sounds delightful,” Katarina intoned with a small smirk.

  A minute later Elsetha was starting to look a little green and Abernathy was sitting against the wall by the window, moaning quietly and holding his stomach. I performed Radiant Winds, sending an orb into each of them and setting the remaining six orbs to revolve around the room.

  “Oooh, how long can you keep that up?” Katarina asked.

  “I don’t know,” I replied. I felt them in the back of my mind, tugging at my awareness. “I feel like they will disappear if I stop concentrating on them.”

  “Does that mean you could just… always have some up, if you are concentrating on them?” she leaned forward.

  The thought was exhausting. While maintaining the orbs didn’t require any mana, it was a mentally exhausting endeavor to keep them flying in tight little circles around the room.

  “I don’t think so. It’s… exhausting. Mentally. Keeping them up.”

  “I could use another,” Abernathy said. Elsetha nodded in agreement. I sent an orb into each of them. It was slightly easier to maintain the four remaining orbs, but I could still feel a considerable mental strain.

  We stayed like this for a few minutes. I would send a healing orb of light into the two of them every twenty seconds or so, performing the song every minute and holding back some of the orbs.

  After a few minutes, Hannah appeared. Her sudden arrival distracted me and broke my concentration. The four orbs I had been maintaining dissipated into the air.

  “So… I opened one of the crates. It wasn’t easy, but I think I know what the pirates have been stealing. It’s weird.”