"Your turn in the infirmary," Fritzen said. "There was venom on the kuo-toa's weapons, but Lendle and Tailonna mixed up something that is drawing out the poison. Tailonna is in the crew quarters, giving some to the others who were injured. She assures me her mixture is magical, and everyone-including you-will be back to normal in a few hours."
Maq smiled and tried to rise, but the half-ogre laid a firm hand on her shoulder. "You're the captain, and you can order me to let you up and I'll oblige. But I'd rather follow a healthy captain-one who's going to be around for quite some time. Rest, Maq. Kof will lead us after the morkoth, and by the time we get back, you'll be feeling much better."
Maquesta pursed her lips, but nodded. Though she wanted to be up on the deck to see them off, she knew that Fritzen was making sense. She hated feeling weak and not fully in control of the situation, and she was angry that all of her crew seemed to be taking turns in the infirmary. But she closed her eyes, tried to relax, and concentrated on listening to the gnome reciting ingredients to himself. A pungent odor filled the room, and Maq knew she was going to stink before this was all over.
"Take care of yourself," Fritzen whispered as he made a motion to rise. Then he stopped and stared at her. "Last night you saw more kuo-toa in the water. What gift do you have, Maquesta, to allow such sight?"
"No need to tell him," Lendle offered, obviously overhearing their conversation. The gnome went back to babbling ingredients and stirring.
"It's all right. I trust him," Maq replied, opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling. "I'm not wholly human" she began. "My mother was an elf. She left my father a long time ago. I don't know if she's even alive. She left when warbands of humans were hunting elves and their kin. I suspect she disappeared to keep attention away from the Perechon. My father, frightened for my safety, had Lendle cut off the tips of my ears when I was just a small child. He didn't want anyone to know I was a half-elf. He was afraid I would be lost to him, too. So I have the elven gift of sight. I can see things better than humans can, though not quite as well as most elves."
"So now you know Maquesta's secret," Lendle said sternly. "It is one shared by only those people in this room-and by her father leagues away. And it had better not go any farther." The gnome's beady eyes were trained on the half-ogre's. "Understand?"
On deck, Ilyatha, Tailonna, and Bas-Ohn Koraf were waiting, all armed with kuo-toan spears. The minotaur carried the end of a thick rope in his hand. Several crewmembers gathered around out of curiosity, and when Fritzen found his way between them, Ilyatha tossed him a large net and told him that it would hold the morkoth when they found and captured it. Tailonna reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out six vials containing the magical elixir that would allow them to breathe water as if it were air. She gave two vials to each of them.
"One vial should last many hours, between eight and twelve, I suspect. It could have different durations for each of us," she added, looking at the minotaur and half-ogre. "But if we work quickly there should be no problem."
Kof nodded and tugged on the end of the rope he was holding. At the other end were the king's sons; the long rope was tied about their necks as if they were dogs on a leash. "Let's just get it over with," the minotaur grumbled. "While I love the sea, I don't care much for swimming, and I care even less for the company of kuo-toa."
Fritzen nearly dropped his vials as a burst of yellow light brighter than a noon sun struck the deck. As the glow faded, Belwar appeared, his sharp hooves hovering inches above the wood. The ki-rin nodded a greeting, and the crew parted as he approached the quartet. "I will go with you," he announced. "I was away last night and returned in time to see only the end of the struggle. Though I was not able to help you then, I will lend my aid now. Morkoths are tricky and deadly."
"Then, to our success!" Fritzen toasted as he raised the vial to the sky, then brought it to his lips and downed its contents in one gulp." The others did the same, and as one they moved to the side of the deck and jumped into the water. The ki-rin dived over, too, with the resulting splash leaving the onlooking crewmen drenched.
Koraf gasped as he sank beneath the surface and thrashed around like a wounded fish, trying desperately to keep a grip on the rope attached to the kuo-toa. He held his breath and dropped like a stone, with Ilyatha, Fritzen, Tailonna, and the creatures following him. The ki-rin hovered just below the surface, watching.
Relax, Ilyatha's mind coaxed. Breathe the water as if it were air. Breathe.
The minotaur closed his eyes and inhaled a little. It was an odd sensation, water entering his nose and going down into his lungs. At first he feared that he was drowning, that the elixir was just some horrible joke concocted by Attat, who wanted to doom them all. Then he gasped in fear and took in great lungfuls of saltwater. It stung his throat, but only for a moment. The odd sensation passed, and he opened his eyes. He was breathing.
Reaching the sandy bottom, he tugged on the rope and stared into the eyes of the king's sons. He shrugged his shoulders and pointed in different directions. Then he tugged on the rope again. At last the kuo-toa understood what the minotaur was getting at, and the largest of the two pointed southwest.
It is being truthful, Ilyatha's voice said reassuringly inside Kof's head. The morkoth's lair lies in that direction.
Above, the ki-rin saw what was transpiring and began swimming to the southwest. Its great legs churned the water, and it was all the rest of the group could do to keep the mythical creature in sight. They passed over a coral bed, where sea fronds that looked like delicate fans waved back and forth in the current. A school of queen angelfish passed overhead, giving the unusual travelers a wide berth, and on the sandy floor crabs skittered out of their way. Kof began to appreciate his surroundings, and his bull neck constantly pivoted back and forth to take in everything. After nearly two hours of travel he spied a rocky ridge that cut across the sandy bottom like the spine of some sleeping giant. The kuo-toa pointed toward the ridge, and the minotaur looked at Ilyatha, who nodded his approval. The ki-rin dived to the floor, and the members of the group, wary and pensive, slowed their pace as they approached the rocks.
The ridge looked like what Tailonna had drawn the day before in the infirmary. If her diagram was true, what was left of the kuo-toa colony would be on the other side of the rise and slightly to the north.
As they neared the ridge, they spied a cave, which was little more than a narrow crevice. The morkoth's home, Ilyatha thought to each of them. The kuo-toa are frightened of the beast and say it lives there. They beg not to be forced inside. Only one of them has been this close to the opening, when delivering a sacrifice several months ago."
Kof looked at the crevice, then at the ki-rin, who would not be able to fit through it. The creature's horn glowed faintly, and he spoke through the water so everyone could hear him. "I will watch your captives, for I cannot follow you. Even my magic will not let my form fit inside. But I will aid you, nonetheless." He closed his eyes and fire danced along his golden horn, a magical blaze that ignored the presence of the saltwater. The flames leapt outward, striking the edges of the crevice and flowing deeper into the rock. "The fire is not real, at least not like a true blaze. It will not burn you. But it coats the walls of the labyrinth beyond. It will light your way, and it may serve to frighten the morkoth, who likes to dwell in darkness. I wish you well." The ki-rin took the rope binding the kuo-toa between its teeth and moved back from the crevice.