Dragon Ship

«What does the dragon ship want?»

«He’s sure you’re at the bottom. If we burned the whole sea, we could get you, and at the same time take revenge on all the underwater wizards who’ve been harboring you.»

«No, it is not me,» Patricia objected. «You’re confusing me with someone else.»

«I wasn’t burned so badly that I lost my memory,» the mermaid said. «The dragon thinks that we are hiding his main treasure at the bottom.»

– What’s that?

«It is his wife, of course. He has a very special wife. She alone is worth a whole magic kingdom.»

The mermaid must have been delirious. Patricia was able to drag her to the wolves. The salty sea water immediately had a healing effect on the mermaid’s body. The burns began to go away. In the water, the mermaid regained her strength and swam on her own. She didn’t even say thank you. Patricia was not offended. The mermaid had suffered so much from the burns that she had no strength left to be polite.

The mermaid’s crest was left on the sand. Patricia picked it up and wanted to throw it into the sea, but changed her mind. It was unlikely that the mermaid would find it in the waves; it was better to keep it for now in case she came to the ship to thank her for her rescue. Patricia pinned the comb to her hair, fastening the strands above her ear. Immediately, unearthly voices sounded in her ear. The comb seemed to somehow carry the singing of sirens.

The island turned out to be full of marvelous creatures, half of them resembling white furry monkeys, half cats. They turned out to be intelligent. The Purrs traded the bananas and coconuts they gathered on the island, and they also picked up all sorts of things from wrecked ships and offered them for sale in the big coastal market. For some reason, most of the ships were wrecked off the Isle of Purrs. Could it be the animals’ fault? The Purrs seemed to be quite cunning. Patricia haggled with them for a long time before she managed to barter a sack of bananas and coconuts. In return, she had to give up an expensive bracelet.

«It’s okay. I’ll take some new jewelry from the sea! I’m a pirate!» Patricia consoled herself when the Purrs lured her away with a chain and a locket.

«You could have taken it from them instead of buying it!«Nethopyrina advised. «You have sabers and muskets.»

«How can you hurt such nice animals?»

«These cute little animals will rob you of everything.»

«Let them! I wouldn’t spare anything for them.» Patricia tried to pet one purra and was immediately slapped. The purra’s tail was more painful than a whip. These animals really are not easy!

A creature that looked suspiciously like a human was walking through the coastal marketplace. Patricia was surprised. Why would a human be here? Patricia herself had only been allowed onto the island because she was in the company of supernatural beings. Even goblins and trolls could be easily tricked by the Purrs into buying spices for the price of gold. These animals must be wizards to be able to seduce even supernatural creatures so easily.

«And you’re human!» Someone pulled Patricia’s hair. «You only look like a fairy, but you’re an earthly girl to the touch.»

Patricia turned around. In front of her stood a hunched figure that looked a lot like an old woman. The old woman’s dress was spreading sea foam on the sand, and a necklace of coins and shells glittered on her wrinkled neck. Such signs are usually worn by coastal fortune-tellers.

«A whole team of magical creatures is captained by a human!» The old woman marveled. «Usually it is the other way around: a whole team of humans has a captain who is a magical creature.»

That makes sense! One sorceress can easily control a whole team of thugs. Patricia had heard stories from seafarers visiting Opal about a witch who had captured an entire pirate ship and made slaves out of the sea robbers. They mined gold and jewelry for her, but they themselves did not get any share of the loot.

And the legendary wife of the sea king Lilophea in general could control the entire fleet going into battle. Sailors had to submit to her magic, and then to the magic of her daughter, the sea princess Lorelei. It was said that if Lorelei played her magic flute, the entire crew of an entire armada would turn into sleepwalkers obedient to her. But these were just sea legends. Patricia did not expect to meet Queen Lilothea or Princess Lorelei on an open voyage. If they had once ruled the storms in ancient times, they were now hidden at the bottom of a fiery ship.

There was a pretty white purra twirling around the old lady’s hem.

«Would you like to take her for a swim?» The old lady suggested. «Purra could be a great assistant to the captain.»

«Thank you, but I don’t think so,» Patricia didn’t want to put the animal at risk. «I don’t think Purra would like to be involved in sea battles.»

«Well, as you wish!» The old woman walked past, leaving puddles of sea foam on the sand.

«Look, her clothes are made of foam and water!» Patricia tugged at Nethopyrina’s wing.

The fairy was not surprised. «Sea Queen Lilothea has a dress made entirely of sea foam. When she spreads her train, a storm starts.»

«She can summon a storm just by spreading her train?» Patricia thought it was incredible.

«That’s right!»

«I wish I could do that,» Patricia sighed.

«It’s never too late to learn,» Nethopyrina encouraged her.

«Isn’t magic the result of study, not talent?»

«It can be. We all knew a wizard who learned magic so well that he became emperor of a whole empire populated by fairies, elves, and monsters. What a guy! Handsome, smart, talented, and…»

«He is golden-haired!» Patricia said.

«How do you know?»

«I saw someone like that in a dream.»

«You could have seen the King of Dreams in a dream, and I’m talking about…» She hesitated. «I guess I can’t talk to you about it.»

«Why is it not?»

«It’s the rules!»

There, Nethopyrina had intrigued her and left her wondering.

«So magic can be trained so well that it can take over magical creatures?» Patricia decided to find a way around the questioning.

«I misspoke,» she frowned, clearly not wanting to say anything. «That young man originally had a magical gift. He just needed to be awakened with the help of magic books.»

«That could be said of anyone who was trained in magic.»

«No, he was really special. You wouldn’t find the likes of him anymore.»

As they walked forward along the shore, Patricia and Nethopyrina came upon a stranger who was also dripping water, but he didn’t look like an old man anymore. Patricia recoiled from him. It was an ugly morgen with gills, twisted horns and webbing. You’d have to run away from him if you didn’t want to get into a fight. Patricia fumbled for the hilt of the saber at her belt, but the morgen wasn’t going to attack, he mumbled something and shoved a gold coin into Patricia’s hand.

«You shouldn’t have taken it!» The mongrel flapped her wings excitedly. «Everyone knows that the Morgens deliberately give their gold to fools in the harbors so that they can become slaves of the underwater kingdom.»

Perhaps she should have been frightened, but Patricia had rightly decided that if the dragon ship continued to sail the seas, there would soon be no underwater kingdom left.

The coin was beautiful. It was embossed with mermaids and some unfamiliar crest. It reflected the rays of the setting sun.

Patricia shuddered as she noticed that the light on the shore was tinged with scarlet. It meant that the day was coming to an end. The sun was setting over the horizon.

The sunset of the third day has already come! In the night, Medea Shai will appear. And what shall she say to her? Accept the generous offer or reject it, risking the wrath of the Queen of the Fairies?

Somehow Patricia was sure that she risked the same in both options. After all, becoming a business partner of an evil fairy was no less dangerous than incurring her wrath.