theworldofdreams.com

The heavy iron chest thumped to the deck of The Darjeeling, causing the tiller man to frown at me. "I don't expect to see any scrapes or gouges in that new decking, me lad." he growled. I hurriedly assured him that it was fine and shoved the chest into the magic pack that held five others. The wind gusted, sending a spray of chilled water over us and I gestured towards land, indicating wordlessly that we should be returning home. "About time, my old bones are aching and since ye won't let me bring a tot o' rum aboard, I could perish with the ague" the tiller man mumbled as he leaned against the tiller, sending The Darjeeling heeling over into the wind. I ducked the swinging boom and collapsed to the deck, leaning against the mast. It had been a good trip, seeking out shipwrecks and fishing up what items I could from the concealing depths of the sea. I had been using a new way of navigation that made things so much easier. I glanced at the small square book entitled "Helm 3" and smiled as I remembered all the times I had struggled to sail just exactly where I had wanted to go. With Helm, I could go anywhere, I was completely in control of my vessel.

Far off, a gray sheet of rain slanted across the horizon, moving toward us but we managed to berth the ship and put her in drydock before the squall reached us. I ran up the street to Muriel's, my favorite fisherwoman in Jhelom. The door jingled as I entered and Muriel looked up, a cautious smile breaking on her face. "Oh, and it be the nautical newbie!" she quipped. "So, now that you finally can steer your ship straight, do ye think ye are a master?"

I pointed to stripes and emblem on my sleeve. "I am more than a Master, as you well know, Muriel. I am so skilled at fishing I cannot advance any farther." She laughed behind her hand and came forward. "Aye, ye have the basic skills, book learning, as it were. But ye still have a long way to go until I consider you a salty dog."

I sighed and agreed with her, that was really all you could do with Muriel. She was a tall woman and brooked no nonsense from her customers. You say the wrong thing and you'd likely have a mackerel upside your head before you knew it. She could swing a mean fish! "I have some things to sell to you, if you are interested, Muriel. If not, Pilan might be." I remarked slyly, knowing how she hated to lose any business.

"Oh all right, let's see what you have. " she grumbled as I heaved the heavy pack onto the counter. After sorting out all the items she wanted to buy and making jokes about the sea trash I had also fished up, she handed me a large pouch that bulged with thick, golden coins. "There ye be, my beamish boy. Now don't spend it all in one place." I grinned at her. She knew as well as I did that I was nearly a decade her senior and she still called me boy.

I thanked her and exited the shop, walking the streets up to the bank. As I passed Chelsea Duklain's place, I wondered where she was. I hadn't seen her around in quite some time. I dumped the pouch of gold coins into my bank box and started toward the teleporters to reach the southern isle, where my house was situated. Suddenly, a clear, feminine voice spoke out in my mind "Hi there! I don't suppose you'd be up to a bit of dragon hide hunting, would you?" I grinned and remembered that Wynne and I had agreed to hunt dragons for their hides since her friend Wilona rapidly consumed hides at an alarming rate. I had talked to Wilona at the bank one day and she kept me in stitches with her funny stories. My, she could certainly talk but that was nothing compared to the way her fingers flew over cloth and hides with a needle!

I msg'd back to Wynne, "Sure, I'd love to hunt some dragons. Where would you like to meet?" Wynne suggested the Haunt as a starting off point and I agreed. Arriving there, I found her ready for trouble. "Hi Bayn!" she exclaimed. "Dragon hides, snake hides, I don't care, I just need to feed Wilona some more hides and she is especially interested in red or white."

I paused for a moment as I admired her ensemble. My oh my, what certain armor can do for a woman! Guy armor is always so clunky but Wynne's plate/chain combo with a cape and tight fitting white blouse made my mouth go dry. "Hides?" I mumbled.

"Yes, silly, hides! We could go to Buccaneer's Den. I hear big white snakes are all over there and they yield the best white hides." she replied with a laugh

Now, I am definitely not a coward but I am a careful adventurer. I had heard a lot about Bucc's Den and "sisters" and such and it was reputed to have a very bad name. Still, I was three times the warrior that I was in the beginning and we could always leave quickly if things got too much. Besides, experience was a good teacher. Sachiko had taken me to places I had never gone to before and I had learned an immense amount.

"Sure, I'd love to go. Still, we must be careful. I haven't been there yet and I've heard there are some mean inhabitants there." I replied. We decided to take transport at the docks rather than sail my own ship over and I ran up to the bank to grab the necessary funds.

"The Lands are in Turmoil", Meka intoned as I walked by. I gave her a long look and thought that was an understatement if I had ever heard one. Last night there were Grim Reaper's in Trinsic. Wyspr told me he and Sachiko had been at the Adventurer's Guild and Grim Reapers appeared all over. They might have been related to the Death Ghoul's that had recently infested Serpent's Hold. All Wyspr knew is that two of them took his dragon out in about five seconds as he attempted to lead his new dragon away. Wyspr had invis'd himself and waited until the Reaper's moved off to peek in the windows at Sachiko, then he quickly ressed Dopey, his well named dragon, and recalled to the Jhelom house.

I arrived at the docs and we took passage to Bucc's Den. Wynne and I gazed over the seas as we traveled and I felt good to be sailing with another person for a change. The wind caused her cape and hair to swirl about her and I just leaned against the bulkhead and watched contentedly. When we arrived at the Bucc's Den docks, Captain Valora told us to be careful. "So ye'll be hunting snakes, will ye?" he said with that nautical twang. "Jest be careful in the jungle. The snakey's are big and bite hard but they are the least of your worries. You want to watch out for the Sister's!" he exclaimed, laying one thick finger alongside his nose and nodding.

"Sisters? Who's sister?" I asked curiously. Wynne elbowed me in the side and I grinned. I couldn't help ribbing these ole sea codgers sometimes. "Now don't be makin' jokes, ye fool." the Captain retorted. "The SISTERS are powerful mages who hate anyone that enters their territory. They have pirate, brigands, dark knights and all sorts of sea scum dogging their trail and doing their bidding." He shook his grizzled head ruefully, "These isles have always been dangerous but since the Sisters came, it has gone to hades." he complained. "I call them the Twisted Sisters." he laughed, looking at us expectantly.

"Twisted? Why, do they walk crooked?" I asked. "Yeah, why are they twisted. You mean like bad or sideways or something?" Wynne queried. The Captain shook his head as his humor passed high above our heads and just gestured towards town. "Experience is the best teacher. Travel with care." he muttered as he turned about to stare out over the boundless ocean.

Wynne and I were already buffed so we started in, her pet moaning breathily. I don't know what those pet monkey's are called, if they have a special name. But they do sound spooky at times. We headed into the entangling jungle, searching for a giant snake and soon, one found us! This was a gigantic reptile and it hissed horribly as it lashed at us with it's coils. Wynne and I narrowed our eyes and settled in for a battle but the snake rolled over, belly up, in a very short time. I looked over at Wynne. "Well now, that isn't so bad." She grinned at me and her eyes sparkled as she exclaimed "That's one! Let's find more!" She galloped off into the jungle and I hurriedly spurred Darlin in after her.

We harvested giant snakes and also dispatched pirates, brigands, and an occasional rogue knight that leaped out at us from the concealing underbrush. Insects whined in the steamy jungle and sweat dripped down me as I labored inside my casing of plate armor. Wynne slashed a bundle of lianas out of her way and stopped short.

A tall, dark haired woman stood before us in a clearing. She wore a mage's hat and a simple brown robe. Her hands held a long mage staff and her feet were planted firmly on the turf. Her eyes were colder than a winter's breath and her voice snarled at us like a nightmare of writhing horror. "What have we here? Picnickers? Visiting to see the lovely sights of Buccaneer's Den? Finding a remote spot to spoon, are you?" she insinuated with a low, crackling voice.

Wynne flushed and hefted her halberd. "Keep your vile tongue to yourself, witch." We are hunting giant snakes, that is all. We will not offer you harm." Her eyes narrowed as she studied the woman and her knuckles whitened upon the long haft of her halberd. "We will not bother you any further."

Sister Reba cackled and gestured to the pirate brute and rogue knight that stood behind her. "Look who's come for dinner?" she said conversationally. "Oh! Yes, dinner. Yes milady. I'll fetch it." the rogue knight said as he began to turn around. "Not that, you ignorant lout!" she screamed. "This!" She jabbed her staff at Wynne and shrieked out words of Power.

A sheet of flame enveloped Wynne! She ignored it and charged forward, swinging the glittering blade of her halberd. I had grabbed my bow so I could start shooting the Sister but since Wynne was already in furious hand to hand battle, I quickly slung it over my shoulder and grabbed my trusty war axe. "Twisted Sisters!" I bellowed in a quickly manufactured war cry. Sister Reba paused for a moment in the middle of some horrific spell and gave me the most puzzled look.

The battle progressed. Magical spells resounded within the clearing. Wynne fought with a fury I've not seen matched by the deadliest dragon. But, between the Sister's bodyguards and her horribly effective spells, Wynne suddenly sat straight up in her saddle, her eyes rolling back and murmured, "Oh, this isn't good at a..." and fell to the thick turf. I wanted to go to her and lift her in my arms, to give her a draught of Resurrection and help her live again but I couldn't do anything but continue to fight. It took some doing but in time the Sister and her guards lay in untidy, unmoving heaps upon the ground. Panting, I walked over to Wynne's body and murmured. "You shall live again."

Her ghostly self manifested and I cast a spell of Life upon her. I looked away, of course, as she dressed, and we talked about the battle. I thought she might be a bit scared or nervous but it was quite the opposite! "I want to find another Sister and rip her HEAD OFF!" Wynne snarled with the resonance of a black panther. Her eyes blazed and her hair seemed charged with electricity. She lifted her halberd and shouted into the jungle, "I am coming for you!"

I hesitantly suggested, "If we see another one, I could always shoot her with my bow until she gets tired of being poked by arrows and attacks us hand to hand." Wynne shot me a cold look and replied, "We could do that, that is true. But, I am so angry now I don't think anything can stop me. " I told her she looked beautiful when she was angry and ducked as the halberd whizzed over my head.

We continued to search the isle and reaped a harvest of snakes, pirates, knights, and their ilk. The horror of the recent catastrophe faded somewhat. Wynne swung her halberd with professionalism and precision. She was a cheerful, funny person to be with, making jokes as she decapitated pirates and flaying snakes.

At the northern end we discovered Sister Daphnie pulling the wings of a butterfly. She smiled smarmily and remarked, "Well, this is more like it. Humans make much more interesting noises when I pull their limbs off." With that she summoned two flame elementals and set them on us as well as Tymon the pirate brute and a rogue knight. I muttered, "It's tymon for you to die, brute." and swung my war axe with deadly intent.

Wynne was surrounded and taking damage and I was rapidly chipping away at the brute with my axe when all of a sudden I noticed Wynne was taking a LOT of damage. "Heal! Run! Something!" I yelled in alarm as I dropped my weapons and readied my mind to cast a greater healing spell on her. But, it was too late. I had failed to react in time and once again her form adorned the floor of the jungle.

I galloped away from the insanely cackling Sister and finished off the knight and brute pirate by the waterside. Returning to the scene of unholy carnage, I unlimbered my bow and started using Sister Daphne as an archery target until she got so angry that she rushed me. Then, I methodically chopped her down to size. After that, I extinguished the two flame elementals and walked over to where Wynne lay.

Her lifeless face stared up at the azure sky and a delicate fern brushed her cheek with soft embrace. Her lips were parted in surprise as death had taken her and I closed my own eyes briefly in pain. "You shall live again." I promised with a fervent whisper.

Soon, Wynne was up and retrieving her gear. She blushed and said, "Perhaps I am not the right woman for this job." I smiled and assured her, "I don't think that is the case. But those Sister's are every bit as tough as we heard back in Britain. We just need to take them slowly, wear them down a bit before charging them." She agreed, a sad smile on her face and I stated. "You did magnificently. A bit hasty perhaps but your courage is not surpassed and your weapons skill not lacking. Why, if you hadn't caused as much damage as you did, I probably wouldn't have been able to defeat her."

Wynne raised one well shaped eyebrow at that remark and replied a bit mournfully, "Why did they break my horse? Look, it's all broken." Indeed, the porcelain horse totem was cracked and would not manifest. I suggested we return to Jhelom and I would ask my brother Shao, a master tinker, to fix it.

Wynne agreed and I created a gateway. We walked to my new home in Jhelom and as I reached the door I suddenly swivled my head to stare at her. She was wearing a long blue dress with brilliant white fancy shirt underneath. What had happened to her armor? Wow, that was so fast I hadn't even noticed. I grinned as I motioned her in and she waited as I rousted my brother Shao up.

Shao is a young man and he blushed in pleasure to have the honor of repairing Wynne's horse. He fixed Sugar, her horse, and handed it to her. "There, all fixed. I am happy I could help. Wow, you are so pretty. " he blurted out.

Wynne laughed merrily and leaned forward to give Shao a quick kiss on the cheek. He turned beet red and stammered, his eyes wide. I just groaned softly from the corner where I leaned against the wall. Man, Shao was likely to trip over his own feet if he didn't watch it. Shao kept grinning as he repeated how he was happy he could help and he would never wash his cheek and ooops, he didn't mean to say that and .... I opened the door to the other part of the house and shoved him through it, closing the door rapidly.

Wynne and I traveled across the way to sell our combined loot to Pilan. It was amazing how much we had acquired in such a short time on Bucc's Den. I was staring, as subtly as I could manage, at Wynne's eyes as she counted the gold and that is my only excuse for not insisting that she keep it all to pay for her death taxes. I just accepted half of it, grinned a bit goofily and told her I would love to go adventuring with her again someday. She gave me a mysterious smile, why do women always do that?, and replied that she'd love it too. With that we parted and I noticed I had a bag of gold in my hand. I sighed and made a mental note to look her up very sooon and hand it to her. Death taxes can be ruinous!

So, the moral of the story is. Bucc's Den can be tough. The Sister's ARE twisted and they are powerful as well. But, the two of us backed by a healer/mage would have had no troubles at all. At least with the few combatants we encountered. I imagine it can get much worse there. Captain Valorian was right, "Travel with care."

I've always been a little too cautious. I was too scared of Death to venture too far from home. I would hunt down those hissing bastards in Covetous or those stupid beasts in Deceit, and I had fun doing it. Something really had changed for me after my studies at the Magery shop and all too brief visits to the shrines. Is it partly Bayn's doing to? Who knows; all I know is that I have no patience for fools and a new score to settle with the evil sisters of the Den.

My visit to the Den wasn't exactly planned. It was more of an impulse. Wilona has been complaining for days that she hadn't seen a fresh serpent's hide in months and that she was running desperately low on dragons' as well, but I half expected Bayn to say something along the line of "Get lost." When I suggested a jaunt to the Den. I sat stunned for a second when he agreed to tempt his fate along with me.

His accounting of our 'visit' to the Den was as poetic and accurate as I've come to expect from the man. I remember something a little differently though. I did give his little brother a little kiss on the cheek thanking him for his help with Sugar. I hope the boy doesn't get the wrong idea. The truth is, my old heart did skip a beat once or twice today, but it wasn't Shao's doing

Shao is going on and on about it. He swears he'll never wash his face again.