"But I can do something!" The voice was Tailonna's. The sea elf emerged from below-decks, appearing cool and calm in the midst of the chaos. Tailonna quickly paced the length of the Perechon, appearing to do some sort of calculation. Reaching the bow, she turned to retrace her steps, drawing a half dozen delicate ornaments from her long hair-gossamer nets that held Tailonna's mass of locks braided with seashells in soft loops around her head and shoulders.
Turning first to the dozen imps wreaking havoc on the longboat, Tailonna took one of the nets, brought it to her lips and murmured several words into it, then tossed it toward the villainous creatures. In the air, the hairnet grew into a circular net of entrapment ten feet across. As the net settled onto the imps and tightened around them, they instantly stopped their shrieking and grew still, their eyes open but unseeing.
"A web net. She's hypnotizing them," Fritzen said admiringly as he continued to struggle with those creatures near him.
Tailonna repeated the spell each time she approached a group of ten or more imps. Sometimes other imps would rush over and attempt to free their comrades, but they were powerless to rend the net. Its shimmering strands held the imps as unshakably as a spiderweb holds its prey.
When Tailonna had used up all her nets, a couple dozen sea imps still remained. She met Ilyatha's gaze. After a minute, he communicated with the sailors still on deck.
"She wants us to move upwind of her, and she wants my flute of wind dancing," Ilyatha told Maquesta.
"Then give it to her!" Maq shouted as one of the little creatures bit solidly into the flesh above her kneecap.
The storm winds buffeted the Perechon and caused Maquesta to swing on the line. "We don't need any more wind," she shouted. "We could lose a mast. But having any masts will be irrelevant if we're all dead!"
On the subject of Tailonna's intentions, however, Ilyatha remained silent. Handing her the flute, Ilyatha stayed beside her, apparently waiting for further instructions. The elf immediately began playing a variation on the jig Maq had first heard the day of the race. A dust devil sprang up at her feet.
Tailonna continued playing until it was fully formed, then nodded at Ilyatha. The shadowperson reached into the flowing cloak the sea elf wore, withdrawing a small pouch. He sprinkled a measure of what looked like yellow sand from the pouch into the center of the dust devil. Tailonna varied her melody, and the dust devil began to move up the mizzenmast to the two sea imps there. The tiny whirlwind spewed sand onto the pair. They dropped off to sleep, sliding down to the foot of the mast in the process.
Tailonna continued playing, directing the dust devil over the remaining Blood Sea imps, including the pair pestering Maquesta. Soon the deck was littered with tiny, snoring red forms. Unfortunately, the unpredictable force of the storm that continued to rage carried the sand into the eyes of several Perechon sailors. They also fell to the deck, fast asleep.
"We don't have unlimited time," Tailonna warned. "The sleep-sand will wear off in about an hour; the webnet's hypnosis lasts a bit longer. We have to get away from this section of the Blood Sea!" Tailonna spoke in a breathy, musical voice that had something of the sea about it.
Maq slipped to the deck, rubbing at the small bites on her legs. "We can't risk raising a sail," she said. "The storm's force would break the mast. Then we'd be at the mercy of these things when they woke up again. We'll have to use the oars, but in these high seas I don't know how much progress we'll make. Wait a minute! Where's Lendle?" An image of the fire-driven contraption that the gnome had hooked up to the oars flashed through her mind. She wondered if she dared ask him to try it.
The gnome came running up to her from the direction of the galley, apparently summoned by Ilyatha. He was covered with a sticky mass of fruit and beans, and he pointed at the imps and shook his stubby finger. When Maq questioned him about his invention, Lendle grew very excited. He answered her, speaking with excruciating slowness.
"It is ready. I will have to go light the furnace."
"Well, go do it, Lendle," Maq commanded. "And hurry up. We have little time."
"Come and help me." The sea elf addressed Maquesta.
Maq whirled. Tailonna's request came perilously close to an order. Koraf and Maq exchanged looks. Without waiting for a reply, the sea elf began picking up the sleeping imps and tossing them overboard. Standing almost as tall as Koraf, Tailonna didn't need any help lifting the tiny monsters, just extra pairs of hands. Fritzen, Maq, and Ilyatha pitched in.
The mist continued to roll about the ship, its tendrils entwining around the rails and flowing up the lines of the mast. Maquesta cursed the crimson fog and peered into it to make sure no more imps were coming out. Satisfied, she ordered Vartan to gather up sheets. They were going to need to mend the sail on the mainmast as soon as they passed out of the storm. She looked over her shoulder to see Koraf inspecting the bowsprit. Smiling, she decided she'd made the right choice in a first mate after all. Fritzen was collecting the knives and other implements the imps had raided from the kitchen. Satisfied that everything on deck was in good hands, she went to check on the gnome.
"Lendle, what's taking so long?" Maquesta stood at the top of the trapdoor leading to the cargo hold and called down. She could feel the heat from the furnace even where she stood.
"Inaminutewaitaminute," Lendle answered.
Maq had just started down the ladder when a percussive explosion rocked the Perechon. Sooty black smoke began billowing up from the cargo hold. She jumped back up to the main deck.
"Oh, Lendle," Maq moaned. She looked through the trapdoor-just in time to hear the sizzle as Lendle threw a bucket of water on something burning. More smoke poured out, making Maquesta wheeze. Peering through the cloud, Maq tried to see if the gnome was all right. Climbing out of the hold, he smashed into her.
"Justafewadjustmentsandwe'llbeflyingthroughthewater." He pulled a piece of paper and a stick of chalk from the pocket of his overalls and began jotting down calculations.
Maq left him and strode toward the poop deck.
"Koraf, gather enough sailors to man the oars and get them down there fast."
"What about Lendle's invention?" the first mate asked.
Maq shook her head ruefully. "You don't want to know. Just make sure the fire's out before you go down into the cargo hold.
"Fire?" Fritzen, who was heading toward the galley, blanched.
Maquesta didn't notice; she was watching Ilyatha, who was gazing intently into the skies above the ship. Maq also looked up. The lightening and thunder had ended. The storm was breaking up, but not fast enough to permit their escape under sail power. Squinting up into the heavens she saw nothing but warm driving rain that stung her eyes. Then Maq thought she glimpsed the gray sea gull that had flown above them when they sailed out of Horned Bay the previous day. Within minutes, she perceived that something far larger hovered over the Perechon.
Fritzen set down the kitchenware, drew his sword, and held it by the hilt like a spear, prepared to aim it at the creature. Tailonna quickly walked over to him and pulled down his arm.
"Have you never seen a such a creature before?" Disdain showed in Tailonna's tones. "It is a ki-rin, and it can only be here to help us. Don't harm it in any way, or you will bring doom down upon us all," she ordered.
With difficulty, Fritzen restrained his anger at Tailonna's high-handed treatment. Developments with the ki-rin soon distracted him.
Amid gasps from the few crewmen left on deck, the ki-rin dropped down until it hung next to the Perechon, at deck level, opposite Ilyatha. Maq had never seen anything like it before. She judged the creature to be the length of two good-sized men put feet to feet. A single spiral horn that glistened like mother-of-pearl protruded from its forehead. A thick mane of burnished brass lay flat against its head and neck. It had a tail and hooves, of a similar color to the mane, but the creature did not really look much like a horse. Wings sprouted near its shoulders, small and feathered and tinged with gold. Even in the darkness, the ki-rin's coat showed a faint luminosity, revealing tiny golden scales that shimmered and twinkled like stars.