Dragon Ship

«That’s horrible!» Patricia was embarrassed.

«For a pirate, killing the enemy is routine. You capture someone and slaughter them over the sea. You’ll have to perform a ritual to make the mermaids realize the sacrifice is meant for them.»

«Has anyone ever done something like that over your swamp?»

Zeligena was now embarrassed.

«One king, defeated in a war, asked the swamp fairies to flood his enemy’s country with mire,» she admitted reluctantly. «I still remember what it was like: a whole army and a whole kingdom went into the swamp. No one ever saw them again.»

«Could you have lured the King of Opal into the swamp?»

«My swamp is gone. The dragon burned it out,» Zeligena reminded her with a resentful look.

«It’s a shame!» Patricia regretted that she would not be able to profit from her acquaintance with the swamp fairy, but Zeligena understood her in her own way.

«Don’t regret it! Otherwise we wouldn’t be on the same ship right now.»

The swamp fairy liked the feeling of being the captain’s assistant. The cabin in which she had taken up residence was slowly turning into a swamp. Even frogs started jumping out of it, but the crew of supernatural creatures didn’t mind. Zeligena would have liked to take the hold and turn it into a swamp, but they were holding a valuable hostage, the fairy from Opal. It was now evening, and the captive fairy was raising a scandal again. Her threats to enchant the whole ship were heard even through the barrier of magical signs drawn at the entrance to the hold.

Patricia thought with horror of the fairy queen who was about to appear. Along with the night would come Medea Shai. What to say to her, Patricia hadn’t decided. Should she try to exchange the hostage for gold and call it a day? Would Medea Shai compromise?

It is unlikely that the queen of fairies will descend from the sky directly onto the deck of a pirate ship. Most likely, she would wait in the captain’s cabin. Her ability to emerge directly from the void was stunning to Patricia. If she could move through space, she would have long ago appeared in the royal bedroom of the Opal palace and tried to kill the king.

What an idea! Patricia had a plan. We should give the Fairy Queen an ultimatum. Let her prove her sincerity by destroying Patricia’s enemy. The Queen of the Fairies should be strong enough to do that.

Medea Shai is able to appear as a black mist in the captain’s quarters, so she can also move to the Opal royal palace in the same way. She could suffocate the king in his sleep and disappear immediately.

Patricia thought about the plan.

«Hey, look!» One of the goblins shrieked. He seemed to be scared out of his wits.

What’s the matter? Patricia didn’t immediately notice what the goblin was pointing at. A nimble white monkey was leaping along the ropes and masts.

«Wow!» Patricia whistled as she realized what was going on.

The nimble purra had sneaked onto the ship and leaped as she wished. The goblins fell into a stupor when they saw the purra. It seems that most of all they wanted to chase her off the ship, but for some reason they did not dare to approach the magical beast. Did the purra hypnotize them and deprive them of their own will?