The survivors had been picked up and all surviving valuables were being methodically picked out of the water. After having Rhynak subdued, Daristan immediately headed below deck before Yvrain had any chance to talk to him. Mariel trailed after him and followed him down to the main hold of the ship.

“I wasn’t sure it would work, but you did really well!” He opened the door to the main hold. On the floor, leaned up against the hull, was Saryssa. He appearance was unusually bleak, and the reason why was made evident by the long dagger driven into her left thigh. Daristan hurried over and quickly bit his finger. A small trickle of blood began flowing but instead of dripping, disappeared and a faint glow began seeping into Saryssa’s wound. With one quick motion, he drew the dagger out of her thigh which caused her considerable pain.

“Sweetheart… How can you be so reckless?” She mumbled repeatedly while he began treating her.

“I guess the company I keep makes me reckless.” He shrugged.

“What, you want to get away from me that badly?”

“Not at all. But I’ll admit Saryssa, I wasn’t sure you were still able to pull off that neat trick of yours.”

She raised a weak grin.

“You can come in Mariel, I know what this looks like, but I promise that Saryssa will be fine. This isn’t the first time she’s done this.”

“So then. What did she do?” She asked sceptically.

“It’s her special talent… it’s not something you’d brag about, but she can use blood magic.”

“… But that’s abhorrent!” She protested, to which Saryssa shook her head.

“Silly child, I bet your mother worships Yulie, they’re the ones who hates it the most.”

“The trick is Mariel.” Daristan politely interrupted. “That using other people’s blood is abhorrent, and Especially without their consent. But using your own blood, that is, a part of yourself, is not. The difference is often glossed over by the faithful. Used correctly, it’s no different from lighting a candle and siphoning the power of eld from it.”

He finished up by adding a fine row of stitches to the wound, and covering it up in a roll of clean cloth. Before she had a chance to protest, he had picked her up in princess carry.

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“Better not move that leg for a day or two, oh and don’t you get any ideas.”

“As charming as a roasted swamp-alligator…” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, by the way, If you’d like, I could teach you some basics.” She looked at Mariel.

“I’ll… Consider it…”

“Lovely, well, so long then… Oh, and don’t tell that sweet little priestess friend of yours about this, she’ll only be hurt.”

She waved to her while she was carried out of the hold, shortly followed by a thud and a barrage of swearing and curses.

Back up on deck, all debris left over from the unfair fight was in the process of being dumped overboard. The captives had been secured below deck and Yvrain was nowhere to be seen. Saya was standing near one of the cargo booms, turning the rope and concentrating on something in the water.

“Hi Mariel, could you give me a hand?”

She nodded, and was directed over to the hand crank which controlled horizontal movement.

“A little to the left… So, turn it forward… Mhm, oh! A little too much! That’s better… And… There.”

Saya hurriedly began turning the bigger hand crank, and soon, a soaked wooden lockbox swung in the net.

“Mariel swung the net onto the deck and the lockbox landed with a dull thud.

“So, what’s the big deal? It looks pretty insignificant.”

With a secretive smile, Saya pointed at what appeared to be a small golden button. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a small seal of sorts.

“Most elves wouldn’t recognize this one, it’s the seal of the Verezi Academy, a school for the brightest. One of the exams concerns making an item from scratch… This box contains something someone onboard made for their exam…”

“How’d you know about this?”

“I knew a trader back home that specialized in trinkets.”

Saya produced a piece of metal wire from her little toolpack, and poked it into the lock. After some work, and frequent readjustments, the lock opened with a click. The lid revealed a functional-looking spyglass. Metal covered in places by engraved leather covers.

“Well it’s a little underwhelming, but no doubt, it’s probably very good… Why don’t you try it Mariel?”

She nodded, and having never used one before, fumbled with it a little, before Saya showed her how to operate it. She looked out across the water towards the horizon. All she could see was water. Turning a little more, she came across Saya’s head, which easily took up the whole view.

“It’s pretty good!”

“Maybe it’ll fetch a good price… I’ll ask the captain.”

“I doubt he’ll buy it from you… In fact, you should keep it hidden.”

Saya nodded and put the spyglass away in a free belt pouch. She cast one last look at the lockbox and kicked it back overboard. At the same time as the lockbox hit the water, the group of sailors a bit further down the railing had an accident: A big crate slipped out of the net and plunged back into the sea.

Suddenly, the captain gave the order to abandon the rest of the soggy items in the sea, and raise all sails to make for a haven. As soon as they got underway, what looked like a huge blanket of dark, angry clouds began covering the sky. The sea became angry, and soon, ocean foam drenched the ship.