War of the Wisps

The ship cut through the water on its way to Shark Tooth Isle. Andrew stood at the Prow, watching Jarnvaror skimming low over the water off to the side. Anna sat next to him, pointedly not looking out to sea. Over the waves, Andrew was sure he could hear his brother laughing. It wouldn’t be long before the two would have to rise high into the sky, where they would hopefully look like a bird to everyone else. At least until nightfall.

“It won’t be too much longer,” Came a voice behind Andrew. He turned. Sir Mac’Neil, the commander of the knights of Prohr, strode up behind him, watching the dragon as well. He was tall, with a thick black mustache and hard features. “And I wouldn’t worry about your brother. That beast of his is more than most mages could handle, even if we weren’t waking them up in the middle of the night!”

Andrew nodded. He’d been surprised when Sir Mac’Neil offered to join the expedition, along with half a dozen other knights and a few palace guards. He hadn’t thought to receive help from any of the high ranking officers, but the men had been the first to volunteer after the trio had gone off in search of Lady Nonell. They’d found the contingent ready to go as soon as they’d arrived back at the castle. Still, it took them until the middle of the next morning, during high tide, to embark for Shark Tooth.

“Are you still holding yourself together, Lady Anna?” Mac’Neil asked.

“I think so,” replied the young Dwarf. Her voice was a little strained, and she looked queasy.

“I am surprised your Wisps do not help with the seasickness,” the commander said.

“Trying to. Not really working,” Anna managed.

Andrew had felt a bit sick for the first hour or two as well. He hoped his companion would be alright once they landed. He glanced back out to sea. He shivered, seeing no land in any direction. “Exactly how much farther would you say Shark Tooth really is?”

Mac’Neil looked up at the sky. “The captain would be better to ask,” he muttered. “But the captain set the sails so that the sun should just be setting when we come into sight of the isle. Maybe two hours till then, and another hour or so to reach the island?”

Andrew nodded. Three hours. Then he’d be on the shore of a Pirate infested island, hunting down a mage. That was the most disappointing part about their volunteers. There were no magic users among them. Anna was the only one. He wondered how much that contributed to her sea sickness.

A few minutes later, Jarnvaror glided over to the ship. “Jarn says he can see the Island from here,” Peter called.

“Then it’s probably time for you to get into the sky,” the commander called.

“You’re sure you’ll be able to see us land in the dark?” Anna called as well.

“Jarn can. Don’t worry. As soon as you guys make it to the island, we’ll get to work,” Peter replied.

“Stay safe!” Andrew said.

“You, too!”

With that, the dragon took off into the sky. He seemed to shrink and shrink as he rose up into the sky until he seemed no larger than a sparrow. A little black bird in the midst of pink and orange clouds.

“What I’d give to have a beast like that,” Mac’Neil muttered.

Andrew turned to him. “Will their lookouts be able to see us from here?” he asked.

The commander rubbed his chin for a moment. Then he shook his head. “Sharktooth isle is mostly a giant spire of rock. If they climbed to the top, probably. But when we’ve been to the island before, they had a series of watch posts along the beach. We should still be beyond the horizon for those.” He paused, still scratching at his chin as he thought. Then he nodded and called to the captain. “I think we ought to raise sails. We’ll travel the rest of the way under oars.”

“You sure, commander?” the captain called back. He was a short man, scarred, and older than everyone else on the ship. But for all his fearsome appearance, he’d never been a warrior. “It’ll slow us down, a bit.”

Mac’Neil nodded. “Better to be cautious.”

The ship’s captain nodded, then barked his orders to the sailing crew. In moments, the sails were rolled up, and sixteen oars shot out the side of the ship. One of the other sailors began singing a low tune. The oarsmen picked it up, and in a few moments, it was moving again as smoothly as before. Although, by the green look on her face, Anna didn’t seem to think so.

Andrew looked out over the water. On the horizon, as the sky darkened, he saw a shape rising up. A lone mountain, sticking out of the sea. It was steeper on one side than the other, accept at the tip where it curved up. As the sky turned to night, its silhouette stood out against the stars, like a single, jagged tooth.

Andrew knew they were moving fast. Not as fast as the dragon, but certainly faster than any horse he’d ever ridden. He could it. Still, as he watched the island, it felt like they approached it at a crawl. For the first hour since it appeared, it seemed like it remained just where it was on the horizon. Lights appeared at its base, and he knew that would be the pirates’ Hideout.

“Wont their sentries hear us?” Anna asked the commander.

The knight shook his head. “We’ll quiet down when we get closer. But we shouldn’t get close enough for that to matter.” He pointed to a spot left of the island. “We’ll make anchor there, and our landing party will take the rowboats. By the time we land, their sentries should be more focused on the dragon.”

Andrew looked up. There was no sign of his brother against the sky. He thought he might have made out a small shadow pass in front of the stars, but as he looked, he couldn’t find it again. He smiled. If he couldn’t find the dragon, not only knowing it was there, but knowing what to look for, he doubted the sentries had any chance of spotting it either.

All at once, the island was upon them. The group of knights began piling into their little boats, joined by Andrew and Anna. Andrew buckled on his belt with his short sword, and strung his bow. He looked out at the island and shivered. As they’d approached the island it seemed like time had been still. Now it seemed to be moving too fast. Looking at the shore, he could make out the brightly lit watchtowers. He knew they wouldn’t be able to see the little ships from this far away. He also knew that they couldn’t miss them once they were closer.

Anna took his hand. Even before he looked down, he felt a wash of calm flow over him. A blue light twinkled inside Anna’s bracelet. “You were breathing hard,” Anna said.

“Thanks,” he said. He turned to look back toward the shore. He knew Peter wasn’t exaggerating about Jarnvaror’s vision. The dragon would hunt at night as often as not, and had demonstrated he could find prey that was trying to hide, even in the dead of night. He would come soon. He looked at the sky behind them, hoping to see a great shadow falling out of the sky onto the pirates’ den.

Then he shook his head. It would be foolish of Peter to come from the same direction as them. It would draw the entire camp toward the ship. He’d know to try something else, wouldn’t he? But what? Where would he come from. Andrew thought for a moment, and he knew what he would do. He looked back at the island and wondered if his brother would come to the same conclusion.

He saw the shadow and instant before the roar split the air. Jarnvaror seemed to fall out of the island itself. The sentries’ voices rose up from the camp. Andrew couldn’t make out any of the words, but he knew they were turning in panic to see the dragon baring down on them.

A jet of fire streamed from Jarnvaror’s jaws. Wood splintered along the far watchtower, and the pirates’ shouting grew louder. Instead of stopping, though, the dragon flew out over the water, wheeling over the ships docked in the island’s bay. More fire lit up the night as masts went up in flames.

Mac’Neil huffed at the sight. “A lot of those ships were stollen,” he muttered.

“Nothing we can do about that now,” Andrew said.

A few minutes later, the rowboat landed in the shadows on the beach. Tropical plants grew almost to the water’s edge, and the landing party dashed into the cover of trees and brush. Light flickered as the fires continued to spread. Men cried out, shouting to their companions for aid in putting out the fires or fighting off the dragon. Others blustered commands to each other, which conflicted half the time, leading to some of the pirates stopping midway through carrying out one order to handle another. And over all of it was the roar of dragon and fire.

“Anna, can you sense the mage?” Andrew asked.

The young dwarf shook her head. “Not in all this chaos. Besides, I can only sense the spells themselves, and who knows how many enchantments he’s given out.”

Andrew nodded. He turned to the commander again. “And you’re sure we have no description of him?” he asked.

“Correct,” Mac’Neil said.

Andrew nodded. He’d talked with each of them before about identifying the mage, and he’d known they would probably have to simply watch him cast a spell. Hopefully they’d get the opportunity in the growing chaos.

He closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts through the noise. “The foliage doesn’t go far enough into their camp. We won’t see everyone from here, and we’d have to go all the way around to see the otherside without being noticed.” he muttered.

“Most of us would stand out as knights, even in this mess,” Mac’Neil said. “We will stay in cover until we spot our man.”

“I don’t,” Andrew said. “In my cloths, I’d probably fit right in.”

The commander nodded. “Go and look for the mage, then. We’ll spread out and see if we can find him from here.”

Andrew nodded. He turned to Anna. “Whoever finds him, we’ll call for you and Halcyon. Loud enough for everyone to hear and we can regroup. Alright?”

Anna still looked seasick. Still, she nodded. “Good luck,” she said.

Andrew dashed out into the midst of the pirates’ camp. Most of Jarnvaror’s destruction was off on the north eastern side of the island, and he was a good ways south of that. There were no one saw him burst out of the trees.

He was sure the mage would focus on trying to take out Jarnvaror if he could. Or at least, he’d try and scare the dragon away. He ran north toward the beach, where half a dozen ships were now in shambles.

Most of the pirates were either running to or from there. They were getting a little more organized. A big burly pirate had managed to cajole several into working as a makeshift fire-brigade, hauling buckets of water up from the shore to the burning buildings. They would duck for cover whenever Jarnvaror came close, then continue working. Others were shooting arrows up at the dragon. None flew even close, as the wind created by the dragon’s wings blew everything off course. He’d shoot a blast of fire at them, and the archers would scatter.

“Oi, you!” called one of the pirates. “Help us with this!” It took Andrew a moment to realize they were calling him. An idea came to him. A part of him knew it was dangerous. Another part of him knew there was no time to think about it.

Andrew ran over to the pirate and took the bucket of water. “We need magic to take it down!”

“Oh, you don’t say?” snapped the man. “Get those fires out.”

“But where is he!” Andrew asked, hoping the Pirate wouldn’t notice he hadn’t bothered with a name or title. He willed the man to understand, but the pirate only shrugged.

“I don’t know where that bastard is! Probably still sleeping. Now hurry!”

Andrew cursed, knowing he couldn’t get dragged in here. “I need to find him. Keep going!” he shouted, running further into the chaos. The pirate shouted curses after him, vowing he’d gut Andrew once the fires were out. Andrew kept running.

“The mage! Where’s the mage?” he’d shout every so often. A few men just shrugged. Most ignored him. Several times, the pirates beaconed to him, only for him to find they were guiding him to a particular fire. Jarnvaror passed by overhead once or twice, the wind of his wingbeats pushing everyone into the ground. On the second time, he was sure Peter had called to him, but he couldn’t afford to think about that in this mess.

Then he saw, standing on the shore, a man who alone in the chaos seemed to be unconcerned. His hair seemed to glow red with the fire, and he held a spear like a walking staff. As Andrew looked, he realized it was a staff, just with a sharpened crystal set at the top, making it look like a stone spear.

Found you!

As he watched the man raised the spear. The air shimmered before the mage, almost as if he was standing over a flame. But none of the fires were close to him. Andrew had no idea what the spell was, but he knew he couldn’t let the mage set it loose. He dashed at the mage, knowing only that he’d have to get the staff away from him. He drew his sword as he reached the mage and slashed, opening up the back of the mage’s arm. The man shouted, dropping the spear staff and turning to face Andrew. The shimmering air seemed to pop with a rush of wind, and the water splashed at their feet.

Another anchor, Andrew thought, remembering the mage in the forest. He scanned the man for any more gemstones, but didn’t see anything. No amulets or rings, as far as he could tell. And the man wasn’t dressed in robes, just a sleeveless vest, short pants, and sandals. He wasn’t sure if the man could hide the anchor in any of that. “Anna! Halcyon!” he shouted as loud as he could. The mage blinked, then began reaching for a knife at his waist. Andrew leaped forward, putting his sword to the man’s throat.

“Don’t even think about it!” he said. “We need to ask you some questions.”

The mage narrowed his eyes. “Questions? What on earth would you want to know? You’ve already destroyed my business!”

“And the Wisps?” Andrew asked. “How are you controlling them?”

“It’s rather automatic, if you know the right spell,” the mage said. The other pirates were beginning to notice the two, now. Some started to step forward, only to be beaten aside as Sir Mac’Neil and the other Knights barreled onto the shore, cutting several of them down. The arrival of the soldiers after the dragon strike was more than enough to break the nerve of most of the pirates. Those that remained found themselves outnumbered, and were hesitant to step in to protect their comrade.

One did though. He held up a sword, and began glowing yellow. A sense of fear started to wash over the group. Yellow tendrils seemed to wrap around the mans arm from his sword. The knights hesitated. The man’s eyes were wide, and he laughed hysterically at the men. He dashed forward, batting aside their swords and shields to strike at them. Andrew moved, trying to take the mage himself hostage. “Call him off!”

“I don’t have any control over them in this stage,” the Pirate mage said. “He’s let it take too much of him. Waste of resources…”

The man froze as blue light appeared behind him. Anna approached him, holding Halcyon in her hand. The mad pirate spun to face her, and one of the soldiers took advantage of the opening. The Pirate flung his sword to the side as he fell, and trails of yellow light streamed after it. Halcyon bobbed over to the blade, where a yellow Wisp emerged, pulsating fear. In moments, though, it shifted to blue, and both drifted back over to Anna.

The pirate mage stared at Anna. “Amazing,” he muttered. He shook his head, looking up to the sky, where the dragon wheeled back and began burning another ship. “I didn’t realize you could do things like that.”

Andrew’s attention snapped back to the mage. “What was that?”

“I mean, he said you would be looking for the Wisps, but… changing their color?” The mage sighed. “How’d she do that?” He glanced at the dragon. “And you got him here early, too. I was lead to believe you wouldn’t arrive in the city for another few days…”

Andrew felt himself growing colder and colder at the words. “You knew we were coming? But… how?”

“My contact in Prohr,” the mage said. “The one who gave me the wisps.”