4

 

Preparations for the plan began the very next day. Zomera had finally been able to convince her friends that the life of the open sea was for them. Fie was easier to persuade than Angelous, but once he was fully on her side he was just as enthusiastic as she.

Angelous packed as many galleks as he could manage, along with all of his tools and other possessions. Fie did not have many of her own things to pack so she helped Angelous with his heavy tools and machines. Zomera made piles and piles of books that she insisted they bring. She also built up a store of food and other supplies that they would need.

All of their belongings, supplies, and provisions were moved into the upper most caverns, until it was nearly impossible to exit the ruins.

All they needed now was a ship, one large enough to carry all of their things, and small enough to man by themselves. Zomera kept watch at the docks for just such a ship, ready to put her plan into action at any given moment. While they were waiting for such an opportunity, they stocked up on more food, and other things from the town. They stole a myriad of weapons, uncase they were ever needed, and barrels and barrels of gun power, along with extra sails, rope and a couple of cannons.

When the day finally did come, they were more than ready, they were anxious. The boat was named the Revenge, a common and unoriginal name, but Zomera fell in love with it at first sight. It was set in Safeltsa for supplies, and the crew consisted of only six men, four of which would stay at an inn in town, which left only two for the three to deal with.

They waited until night fall to set their plan into motion. Zomera and Angelous went into the town by land, while Fieshack went by sea.

 

The two men were playing poker down in the store room, their game lit by a small candle on the table.

“I fold,” one man said with a yawn.

“On come on! I told ye before, you can’t fold just because you are tired, ye gots to play. Come on now.”

With a sigh the man picked up his cards, knowing full well that he was already set to loose. He perked up suddenly.

“What’s the matter?” the other asked.

“I hear rats,” he said with a whisper.

“Already? We just set in to port, how can there be rats already?”

“Don’t ask me! I’m just tellin’ ye what I hear,” he defended himself.

A few more cards were played when suddenly, a large weasel jumped up on to the table. It looked back and forth at the two men, before scurrying away. The two men simultaneously jumped up and began to give chase.

“Come here you dirty rodent!”

“We are gonna throw your filthy hide into the sea!”

They chased it up on the deck, the weasel always a step ahead of them. When they got up on to the deck, the weasel was gone. Instead, a few paces ahead of them was a tall, sinister looking man. His sword was drawn with one hand on the hilt while the blade dug into the wood of the deck. He grinned as they approached. “This your ship? Mighty fine, I must say,” he said.

The two men pulled out their own swords, baring their teeth like dogs.

“Get off this ship, it don’t belong to you!” one yelled.

The man smirked, lifting the sword in front of him, “Oh, but I think it will.”

His words were followed by a loud splash, followed by the scraping of claws and a dull thud as something landed on the deck. The two men turned around to see the strange fish creature, dripping on the deck, glowing from the moonlight. She rushed upon them, kicking one in the head, and slapping the other across the face with her tail. They were both temporarily stunned. One fell unconscious the other lifted his blade, recovered enough to retaliate. But before he could make a move, the intruder came up behind him and jammed his sword hilt across the unfortunate soul’s head.

The intruder looked up to the fish girl, “Nice work, Fie,” he said with a smirk.

Fie nodded to the man, “And you Zomera.”

The man seemed to fiddle with unseen thing on his belt, and then the hologram shimmered into nothing, leaving the form of Zomera. She lifted a small device from her pocket and fitted it to her ear.

“What was that, Fie?” she asked.

Fie repeated what she had said, though it seemed rather silly to her.

The ear device was a smaller version of the translator that Angelous had found deep in Tydatri a while back. He had been able to find a few, one for each of them. Fie wore hers at all times, it had been made watertight. Angelous had been able to stick some adhesive to it to help it stick to Fie’s head, because with nothing more than a hole in her head for an ear, the device had nothing else to support itself. Angelous suggested to Fie that she not try to remove it unless it was necessary, the adhesive was very strong.

The weasel came scampering out from behind a box, fading into the form of Angelous as he approached the two, a wide grin on his face, and a translator on his ear, “That was exhilarating.”

“I told you! I said say you would love it,” Zomera said, leaning over to take hold of one of the men. “Fie help me with this,” she grunted. “Angelous, I want you to get this ship ready to sail.”

Angelous nodded, before leaving the two.

Fie and Zomera heaved the unconscious bodies of the two men off the ship, heaping them unceremoniously on the dock.

“Now Fie,” you go back to the ruins and start to bring things down to the shore, we should not be too long. I am going to go find a couple of wagons or wheel barrows or something.”

Fie left quickly, preferring once more to go by water. Zomera stole into the town as silently as she could manage. She made her way to her old home, where her mother still lived. Outside the house she found the laundry, hanging out to dry. Knowing only her mother ever bothered to do the families laundry, Zomera pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and hid it in the folds of a shirt. When this was done, she ran down the street to a lumber jack’s home who had lived there since she was a girl. She poked around behind his house until she found a pair of wheelbarrows. Pushing one in front of her, and pulling one behind, she tugged them both down to the docks and got them up on the ship.

“What took you so long?” Angelous said, standing behind the tiller.

“I had to say goodbye to my mother,” Zomera explained.

Angelous nodded, “Well, go haul up the anchor will you?” he instructed.

Zomera did as he instructed and Angelous maneuvered the boat out of the bay. They sailed as best they could, slowly at first, but eventually they got the hang of it, though it would have been much easier were Fie onboard with them. With Angelous at the tiller, Zomera was left to do everything else. They made their way down the coast line and towards the bay where Fie would be hauling out their things. They anchored the ship and loaded the wheel barrows on to one of the small life boats and sailed to the shore.

Fie had not had much progress in the short time they had been apart, but a sizable pile had built up by the shore, even without the wheelbarrows. Zomera began to fill up the life boat with the supplies.

“Angelous, get the wheelbarrows out and go help Fie get more things,” Zomera instructed.

The boy took the two wheelbarrows as best he could, which was fairly awkward, and disappeared into the night. Zomera packed the lifeboat as full as it would go and sailed back to their anchored ship. She unloaded the items on the deck, and then headed back to shore.

The three made a number of trips throughout the night. When the sun rose like a heavenly phoenix from the sea, they were still hard at work. Only by midmorning did they finish loading the supplies. They wasted no time getting back to their new ship. It was vital that they leave as soon as was possible, they did not want the people of Safeltsa to discover them, for surely someone would come looking for the fine ship.

They sailed away from Safeltsa and the ruins, expecting to come back some day, though none of them knew when. All they could do at that moment was sail away until the ship was lost and forgotten, then it would truly belong to them.