Chapter 5

Komi awakened before the rest, disappointed that her headache from yesterday hadn't gone away. Kandace Withakay was nowhere to be found, and Komi recalled her saying the night before that she likes to go for walks first thing in the morning, so Komi resolved that she would as well; she decided to take a turn about the temple.

She felt drawn to the sanctuary of the temple, so she drew close to the front of the room and sat before Verina and Bo's portraits, and felt a great amount of peace.

Then, it was almost as if she heard someone calling her name. She looked to the left, where she could feel it coming from, and saw a shelf with dozens of trinkets. There were shells, fossils, coins of all kinds, a few small bones, and a host of other things. There wasn't a speck of dust to be found; Kandace seemed to take care of things dilligently.

When Komi crossed the room and stood before the shelf, she knew instantly why she was drawn to it. What looked like it should have blended into the rest of the items stuck out plainly to her.

She has definitely seen this little conch shell before, and when she picked it up and held it in her hands, it was like she was back there. She could feel the warm sun on her skin, the cold water lapping against her ankles, the smell of salt on the breeze...

And now, it was here? How had Kandace gotten it? Where was the mermaid now? Why was it here, at all?

"Oh, look what you found!" came Kandace's voice from behind Komi.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, let me just—" Komi put the shell back where she found it.

"No, it's okay! I just think it's weird you were able to pick it up at all."

"What is it?"

"A cleric brought it in as an offering to Verina when I was just a kid, and told my grandmother to keep it safe. All offerings to Verina are bound to the temple, though, so I don't know what they were so worried about. I watch over all of the things brought here for Verina. It's one of my biggest jobs as the High Cleric."

Before the six of them set off to return to Denali's, Kandace told them they were welcome back any time, and hugged each of them. Thad asked her if she was okay, living here all by herself, and Kandace said she was; she told them she loved being a Withakay and being a High Cleric, and that she hoped someday Verina's name would be as loved as it used to be, and she was happy to be at the temple to be a part of that.

Back at Denali's, Elliott greeted them excitedly, and Denali accepted the andisol with thanks. "I'm impressed by how quick you were," he told them, "especially having asked so little. And this is perfect," indicating the andisol, "exactly what I needed."

"Now, typically," he continued, "we would rest for the evening and debrief the next day, but we have something far more pressing at hand—" he turned to Rika "—your next show. I'd like all of you to accompany Miss Arabella to Shelette; Elliott got his hands on your tour schedule, and I'm a fan of your route; I actually have something for you to do in Galena on the way back.

"This is a key to a small storage locker in Caedmon. I'd like you to retrieve the contents for me. You won't have to see anyone or talk to anyone, as the lockers are available to access 24 hours a day; just get there and get back. The ferry from Lilliver to the mainland won't be fast enough to get to the concert tomorrow evening, however. I would recommend setting out as soon as possible, since it's hard to find passage to the mainland within a day at the best of times. Use the resources you have, and collect more on the way if you're able. Networking covertly is an invaluable skill. I'll be giving each of you five gold pieces for this journey. I can offer each of you rations for the day; you'll have to collect your own tomorrow, but with five gold each, you should have plenty."

The six of them picked through the woods as they mozied toward the village. With Elliott still on probation, Imari was upset about leaving him behind, and continued to speak little to the others. Spickle Durf Bigteef's silent treatment of Denali was bleeding into communications with the rest of the group, and they continued to be disgruntled, to Komi's chagrin; she was trying hard to be friendly with everyone. Rhizel tinkered with his homunculous as he walked; Rika continued to chatter absently. And Thad was about to boil over about the entire situation he and everyone else was in.

"Where are we even going?" he asked. "Do any of you know how to get to the mainland without the ferry?"

None of them did.

"Who was that elf that got us into the train station yesterday?" Rika asked.

Komi flipped through her notes. "Devlin Ekkeko," she said. "They run the pawn shop."

"Maybe they know how?" Rika offered.

They decided it was worth a try.

"You guys travel a lot," Devlin told them.

"Business is business," Thad said. "So? Any ideas?"

Devlin let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah. Me. I got a boat."

"Really?" Rika asked. "What kind?"

"A catamaran. Faster than the ferry, too. If we leave within the hour, I could have you to Capo by morning, and the ERA'll take you the rest of the way."

"You would take us to the mainland?" Imari said.

"If you have the gold. And you can swear by how long your 'errand run' takes. I don't want to be away from the village more than three days."

"Not a problem," Thad said, handing over the gold.

As the day wore on and they sailed the open seas, Devlin continued posing questions to Thad, seeming to just enjoy the annoyed look he got on his face. Komi asked Rika what Freida Gelsey was like. Imari had something to read, Rhizel had something to tinker, and Spickle had something to brood about.

Suddenly, Devlin let out a warning cry, as a spear appeared from beneath the waves, and then another, and they were very quickly faced with four Sahuagin—Doloria's mutated sea beast.

At first, they group was able to fend them off, and keep them from boarding the ship, but soon, the Sahuagin began to call on some friends. The shark fins that appeared above the waves weren't startling at first, but the game changed when one of them lept out of the water, and landed on the boat—landed on four legs.

Spickle was the first to fall, followed by Imari—who immediately heard from someone on the other side, or at the least, another side—everyone else struggled to fight off their foes and revive their friends. Even Devlin, whose blows hit true, was having difficulty turning the tide.

Once the second Sahuagin fell, though, the group grew in confidence. Devlin was able to shoot magic missiles from their place at the mast, where they had a vantage point of all four corners of the catamaran. Rhizel struck a sound blow, and all the foes turned on him, which distracted them sufficiently that the rest of the remaining party was able to attack from behind.

Finally, Devlin cast a last magic missile and sent the single remaining shark's corpse back into the water. "Curse Doloria," they said, falling back. "Is everyone alright?"