The only explanation I could think of was that Venomheart had again been trying to jump the gun on us and that King-Priests of the Demons Sands were definitely giving them a hand to do so. There were two orbs left, including the one we were after now. This made me wonder why the King-Priests themselves couldn't go after the orbs again, but I quickly reasoned that there must be some sort of restriction in place to prevent them from doing so. Hence Venomheart.

So where's the last orb, I wonder, I pondered with a frown as I watched the other caravel behind us. Tch, from what I understand, some of Melody's members don't have the same restrictions as we do for being online... this could get bad, fast. Even Peaches and the others have to log out sometime for work or something, right?

“It's a good thing Snow and I don't have much to do in our real lives,” Peaches remarked as she quietly observed the enemy ship.

“Hmm.” Cylodel nodded back.

“We'll have to rotate sparingly, though. You boys should be home from your jobs about eight real hours after you have to get off, yes?” the wizened Hauflin turned to look up at Cylodel and Cloveroak, the former nodding while the latter grinned.

“I can call in a work-at-home day thirty more times this year; don't worry! I finish all of my actual work in a few hours anyway.” Cloveroak explained. “I'll have some brekkers, do the reports, and then be back to sail until supper-time.”

“It's your job,” his guild leader shrugged, a faint grin on her face.

“He'll do it.” Cylodel quipped, heading below decks with a shake of his head.

“In the meantime, let's get that harness thing affixed to your ship in the event of an emergency,” Peaches said to me.

“For Dracuoatlax,” I nodded back, and we spent a few minutes rigging it to the forward section of the ship so that our dragon friend could pull it along at his leisure, if he had to.

I was eighty-percent certain the reason Venomheart wasn't advancing on us was because of Dracuoatlax. They were content to let us run ahead to the island, so long as it kept them off the dragon's radar. He himself was nearly hovering beside the ship, occasionally rising up a bit higher to circle back and keep the enemy on their toes. A sudden concern sprang to mind, and as he returned from one of these intimidation runs, I clambered up the mast and ran to jump on his back as he came near. I landed safely, and made my way up to his head.

“I'm a little worried about something,” I said to him.

“Oh?” the dragon returned with interest.

“Venomheart is a guild of renowned poisoners; is there a poison they might use on you?” I wondered.

“Hmm!” Dracuoatlax remarked thoughtfully. “I must admit, Lady Lana, this thought had not occurred to me... but there are several poisons that, while not fatal to me, would certainly hinder my progress. As to any that might end my life, they would have to be skilled indeed to craft them, for such poisons and venoms are a thousand times more fatal to mortals than to dragons... the ingredients can only be collected by a grand master alchemist who has completed ten arduous tasks, from what I understand. Each of these venoms or poisons are all called Dragonsbane.”

“Of course they are,” I sighed.

“Fear not, Lady Lana; I believe we shall manage to throw them off our trail in this fiendish sea ahead, and then your fears for my well-being need not be dwelt upon.” he then said.

“I hope so, pal.” I said as I gently patted his head.

“Now, I must deposit you back on your ship safely,” he said, craning his head around to pick me up by the collar, lowering himself and gently tossing me to where I could grab onto the rigging. He then went up higher again, resuming his hawk-like orbit of our ship as I slid down to the deck.

“Lana?” Heali asked as I landed.

“How far are you with your alchemy skills?” I asked her.

“Pretty far; I have some quests to do when I get back so that I can master the healing and restorative potions, though,” she told me.

“Oh right, because you went for that branch and not the poisons...” I mused.

“Um, of course.” she lightly flicked me. “Worried about something?”

“Slightly worried that Venomheart might have a poison that could kill Dracuoatlax or Fyu, yeah,” I replied, and her eyes flashed with alarm.

“I... did not think about that,” the Sea Elf remarked.

“Neither did I until just a few moments ago,” I shrugged.

“I've done a lot with the alchemy tree myself,” Peaches said as she and Ariana joined us. “I think you're worried about Dragonsbane. There's twelve types of them; each of them has an antidote, but they're as difficult to craft as the poisons themselves.”

“Lovely.” I sighed.

“Lana.” Myanihia touched my shoulder then. “Jana and Merc; they, may have it... the Dragonsbane.”

“The herbalist and the alchemist,” I nodded as I recalled them.

“Yes. Between, the two of them, it would not, surprise me, if they had already, progressed, to where they can make it.”

“And if they can make it, the rest of them are also capable of using it in some fashion. But apparently it's not without its dangers.” I noted.

“To those using it you mean?” Ari asked, and I nodded in reply.

“Dragonsbane, is so potent, that, without great care, it can kill the one, trying to use it,” Myanihia explained.

“Yikes!” Heali grimaced.

“That's why I wouldn't go messing with stuff like that,” Peaches shrugged.

“Dracky thinks we can lose them in the Siren Sea for some reason, though,” I then said, looking ahead towards the area in question.

“Your bad habits are rubbing off on your critters. I'm sure he's got some sort of wacky surprise in mind.” Peaches said with a grin.

“Gyeck!?” I froze as Ari giggled.

“You might as well embrace it,” she told me.

“Yeah, sure, but I think Peaches is forgetting something.” I then grinned back.

“Oh? Do tell, hon.” the older woman grinned back.

“We're all mad here.” I said, and we all laughed together.

***

A long time ago, I had played this one video game that had been based on the Odyssey story, and I could vividly recall the struggle it had been to get past the sirens. Now here I was several years later in a re-imagining of that scenario. I had an advantage this time, being Lana, but we had three guys on board to worry about. Venomheart had four guys on their ship, if their whole guild was aboard, and Dracuoatlax indicated they probably had a NPC crew helping them, most of whom where male. They potentially had the greater disadvantage depending on how they planned to follow us through the Siren Sea, if at all.

“It's a large swath of ocean, though; it may not be worth it to them to go out of their way and have us get there first just to safeguard their crew. They'll definitely have a contingency, probably recommended to them by their client guild.” Snow Dancer remarked as we studied the map.

“Oh I'd bet on it,” I agreed.

Visually speaking, the water here was more of a turquoise color than a blue-green, and there were pockets of ephemeral mists that neatly enveloped sea rocks of various shapes and heights. I presumed that the flatter ones would be siren perches, whereas the taller or more jagged ones were meant for ships to be wrecked upon. I wonder if there's a threshold where a ship can't be turned away from those rocks, I mused as I looked out into the distance again. There definitely was in that game I had played as a child. If there was any similar sort of mechanic here, Venomheart would again potentially have the disadvantage, based on their crew. But like Snow said, they definitely had some sort of preparation.

“Our smaller crew of mostly players can likely keep ahead of them through all this; but still, temporarily losing three is kind of rough.” Snow Dancer added.

“Losing three?” Derwydd wondered.

“Three guys, to be exact.” Maryn said with a faint smirk.

“Why us?” Cloveroak returned with a grumpy look.

“Because they're sirens, Clover.” Snow Dancer said to him, gently knocking on his head.

“Yeah?” he quipped, and then it hit him. “Ohh, riiight,” he then said, and Cylodel shook his head.

“Wash-out sage.” his companion remarked, to which the other glared back indignantly.

“Take it back, you hither-thither knock-off!” Cloveroak said as he mock-swatted Cylodel, and the rest of us laughed. “Wait! Oh, never mind... your ability's on cooldown now...”

“Correct.” Cylodel nodded. “Good thought, though.”

“Ahh, right; if we hadn't needed to portal up to Ragnarheim, you could us the crow's nest to spot a location on the other side of this expanse and we could gain a few hours on them,” Lizzy said with a nod. “Hey, couldn't you portal obstacles in their way, though?” she asked, and Cylodel blinked twice.

“My hearing will need to be disabled.” he said.

“That's right, all you have to do is deafen us,” Derwydd said with a clap of his hands.

“Oh true,” Healina realized. “Too bad! I wanted to tie you up!” she grinned mischievously, and her boyfriend gave her a bemused smile.

“Ahh...” he started uncertainly.

“No comment,” Peaches quipped.

“More importantly, there's a special mechanic here.” Cylodel then said.

I knew it.

“Right,” Snow Dancer nodded back. “I've read on the forums that there are currents here which can drive a ship to the rocks even if you avoid siren interference.”

“Boo.” Lizzy groaned.

At that moment, I heard the faint, ethereal sound of siren-song. Their voices seemed to shimmer, or to radiate; they weren't close enough to completely affect the three guys yet, but I could see them faintly twitching.

“Hrrnnggh, I heard something,” Cloveroak grimaced.

“Ariana.” Cylodel said at once.

“Wait!” I held up my hand, and my partner halted. “Forget obstacles; what if we portal sirens onto their ship and have Dracuoatlax fly us over this part of the sea to gain a lead on them?” I said. About half of the others looked at me as if I was crazy, and the other half began grinning at each other with amusement.

“That's the craziest thing I've heard you come up with next to your wanting to evaporate an entire lake.” Peaches said.

“Would that even work?” Derwydd wondered. Cylodel stood there for a moment, and then blinked twice.

“I could do that. But I still need to be deafened.” he told me.

“Sure thing.” I nodded back.

Dracuoatlax was informed of our plan when next he hovered close to our ship, and silently nodded his assent to carrying us across a small part of the Siren Sea when we were ready. We then adjusted the rigging so that he could carry us instead of pulling, trying to do it as quickly as possible yet also as carefully as possible. Being accidentally dropped by a dragon onto an outcropping of rocks was not a death I had in mind.

“We'll get through the rockiest parts of this sea and then have him set us down here, near that archipelago,” Snow Dancer pointed to a spot on the map. “It looks like we'll have to deal with some strong currents there, but we should be able to handle that.”

“I dunno; the Jade Sea is pretty tame...” I said warily.

“If you guys mind the sails and the rigging, I can mind the helm.” Cloveroak told us. “I've had some real experience with sailing old-time vessels like this in rough seas.”

“That'd be great,” Ariana nodded back.

“Just remember you'd have to follow my directions; I won't be able to hear you, after all.” he added.

“Oh! I should activate that now,” Ariana recalled, getting ready to put a deafen-spell on our three male crew members.

“Cylodel, did you find a good group of them?” I asked while she prepared.

“I have them. Just nod when.” he told me, and then Ariana placed the spell on them.

Waaaiiit a sec... how are the other two guys gonna help us if Clover's shouting orders? Are we just gonna go with nods and hands signals? I mean, that only goes so far...

“Lana?” Anhe touched my shoulder. “Dracuoatlax is ready.”

“Signal him,” I said, and she turned to nod at Healina, who lifted up the riggings with telekinesis so that Dracuoatlax could grab them. As soon as he had us in his grip I nodded to Cylodel, who thumped his staff twice. A moment later I saw the glimmer of a portal opening on the enemy vessel, and five sirens came through it. They were in chaos the moment we lifted up off the sea, and for several minutes our ship was borne through the air.

“On second thought, they are poisoners... maybe this won't slow them down much...” I suddenly thought.

“Clara.” Myanihia said simply.

“Huh?”

“Clara doesn't care who she hits with her skills, just so long as they die.” Lysandra shrugged. “There's a couple of forum posts about it. She'll likely poison at least a third of the crew trying to kill the sirens. That will slow them down.” she said, and her half-twin nodded.

“W-what kind of maniacs are we messing with?” I asked with a bemused look.

“I guess we'll find out,” the werewolf-girl said, turning to head over to the prow.

“We will get through, first. They, won't catch us, before we reach the island.” Myanihia told me confidently.

“And then we lose some time from our school day while those guys can probably keep going most of the day,” I sighed. She softly smiled, patting my shoulder.

“We'll see.” she returned, and then slipped up to the crow's nest to keep watch.

I turned back to look at the enemy ship; it was covered with a sickly green fog, and I could just barely hear the sounds of screams, a cough, possibly some shrieks, and a definite sound of maniacal laughter. Great, I sighed, we have a boat full of Bond villains chasing us.

***

Twenty minutes later Dracuoatlax set us down, and we hurriedly began managing the ship as the currents began taking hold. The dragon himself perched on top of a tall rock to recover himself, looking back towards the enemy ship.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“They are recovering,” he boomed out to us. “But we have gained too fine a lead on them. Yet beware! Sirens are not all you shall face!”

“Those storm clouds?” I asked him, and he nodded.

“Sirens, storms, and sea; shall you overcome them, Lady Lana, and impress me once more, or shall I be disappointed with you and seek my freedom?” the dragon said with a grin, and then launched into the air to get ahead of us before the storm closed in from the north.

“Heh,” I cracked a grin at the words.

“Get the sails out of the wind!” Cloveroak then called, and we hastened to do so.

As we carefully maneuvered our ship through the whipping wind and capricious currents, I saw the sirens gathering around the ship like vultures. A hauntingly beautiful melody began pouring forth from them, and one, probably a leader, sprang out of the sea to sit atop a rock ahead of us, her voice trilling out in harmony and her arms spread invitingly.

“Tch, won't work on us.” I smirked.

The sky above began darkening; black clouds were rolling in overhead, and rain was beginning to pour down. I saw a flash of lightning on the horizon, and moments later a great clap of thunder roared out. Unfazed, the sirens continued trying to lure us. The song was almost hypnotic. I looked out towards them; I wasn't sure if I started walking to the side of the ship or if I only raised my hand to try and--

What, wha's going on? I shouldn't, feel this way... women are... immune... I thought to myself as a sudden dizziness came upon me. Anhe then thumped her staff, activating a resistance aura, and Healina put up one of her wards as well.

“Huh?” Maryn blinked.

“These sirens are more potent than the ones near the continent, I guess,” Healina said, and Anhe nodded.

“That is what I have read.” she agreed.

“Ugh.” Peaches groaned.

“Guidebook, guidebook... oh here we go,” Heali said as she found the right page. “Yep. Out here, our natural immunity rating goes down by twenty-five percent.”

“Rude.” Lizzy grunted.

“But doesn't that mean good for us since Venomheart doesn't really have people like Anhe or Heali and myself in it?” Snow Dancer asked.

“You know, judging from what I saw earlier, I bet they'll just poison their way through...” I suddenly realized. Why didn't I think of that earlier...

“I bet you're right.” Ariana agreed. “Jo--Melody doesn't seem like someone to let this sort of thing slow her down.”

“Port! Port!” Cloveroak called out, and we instantly went back to work, narrowly avoiding a collision with a massive sea-rock.

Pay attention, doofus, I said to myself inwardly as we cut off our chatter, focusing on the task at hand.

“Anything else important in that book?” Lizzy asked her friend.

“Uhh, I think there was something about a Siren Queen, but the chances of running into her were pretty low.” Healina replied.

“Swell.” the other said.

“I'm heading into this current off the starboard bow; it should take us beyond the worst of the rocks,” Cloveroak called again, and we set to work to make sure we stayed in the current he wanted.

Briefly I looked back towards where I could still vaguely see the enemy ship; they did not look any closer to us than when we had first set down. I then returned my attention to our own ship, very carefully keeping hold of the line I had so that the sail would stay in position. The wind was not making it easy. A grunt escaped my lips, and then Lysandra came to help me out.

“Almost there,” Cloveroak told us. “Prepare for a hard turn to port!” he said. I looked ahead; through what I could see in the rain, there was a mostly clear patch of sea in the direction he was trying to go, bordered by sea-rocks as if it were a street passing through houses.

“That looks hopeful,” Lysandra remarked.

“Hmm...” I nodded back vaguely.

“Something up, chick?” she asked me.

“I dunno,” I replied uncertainly.

“Hard to port!” Cloveroak boomed out, and as he turned the wheel we quickly adjusted things to make the turn easier, readjusting them to straighten ourselves out when the turn was finished. The rain came down in greater volume, and the sound of ethereal singing grew louder.

“Bucket brigade on alert!” I called out, and Belle and Peaches ran to get their buckets, the former switching to human-size.

“Keep her steady!” Cloveroak ordered. We tied down the sails to do just that, watching as more and more sirens began swimming alongside the ship.

“Uh-oh,” Healina remarked droopily. “I don't think the odds are in our favor.”

“Huh...?” I returned flatly. She pointed ahead of us. The sea was churning; I looked back at Cloveroak, who shook his head.

“We're in a 'lane' of rocks now on either side of us; we'll deal with that when we--ohh, snap...!!” he said as his eyes began to widen, and I spun back around to look.

Where the sea had been churning, a large figure began emerging from the waters. It was a figure of great and terrible beauty, a simple yet regal circlet upon her head and a sleek trident in her hands, her hair billowing out behind her in the storm as it picked up speed. I looked around quickly; there had to be at least a way out of these rocks before we ran into her. Up ahead I espied what I hoped to find.

“Sandra, Lizzy, get Der and wait near the anchor!” I called, and the two of them tapped our druid friend on the shoulder, doing as I said. I scurried up to Cloveroak, tapping him and pointing to the spot I had found.

“Worth a try!” he grinned as he saw it. “I think I know what you're going to do. It'll be tricky!” he said, preparing himself. I nodded back, and headed to the deck again.

“Lana?” Lizzy asked me.

“Wait for it,” I said, watching intently.

As soon as we were at the point I wanted I put the anchor down, and at that same moment Cloveroak turned us to starboard. The ship was in position almost immediately, and I helped the other three pull the anchor back up quick so we could squeeze through the space in the rocks to get back into open sea.

“Whew!” Ariana exclaimed when we were free. “You're crazy!” she said as she hugged me.

“Ah-heh,” I grinned back.

“She's coming after us,” Healina said.

“Ari, shoot up a flare,” I said to my partner.

“They might see it,” she warned me.

“Well I hope Dracky sees it first.” I shrugged, and she nodded back.

“Let's hope so!” she smiled, and raised her staff, shooting off a series of firebolts into the sky.

Personally, I'm pretty sure Venomheart will be having their own problems, since that poison they used to kill our siren ambush probably took out a good deal of their NPC crew... so even if they *see* the flare, they won't be able to catch up, I mused to myself as I watched them defy the rain in their ascent.

The melodic and forlorn sound of siren song came to my ears again; the protection we had from Healina and Anhe was just barely keeping us from reacting. I saw our Sea Elf healer frown as she noted this, and we turned to look at the Siren Queen, who was moving to give chase.

“She must have a special attack or something that has a chance of bypassing my wards and Anhe's auras,” Heali told me.

“Ugh.” I sighed. “Well, it wouldn't be fun if it wasn't a challenge,” I then grinned.

“You said it,” Lizzy said as she came over, leaning on the mast. “So boss, how are we getting out of this?” she asked with a cat-like smirk.

“I guess we have no choice but to have a running fight,” I shrugged. “Melee stay on guard; mages and archers, get ready; Peaches and Belle, help out when you can!” I called out, signaling to Derwydd and Cylodel that we were going to fight as we continued sailing. They nodded, and readied themselves to help us.

We began picking off the regular sirens and the occasional champion that tried to leap on deck to fight us or to try and drag one of us overboard. The rain was not letting up either, and the already strong winds were picking up in speed. I looked back to our pilot to see if he had any thoughts on the matter. Cloveroak was taking note of the winds at the moment.

“Turn the sails to catch the wind!” he then called out, and four of us hurried to do so while the others kept up the defense.

“It's almost coming from behind us,” Ari said as the two of us turned one of the sails to the wind.

“He'll probably keep us in the current as well to try and maximize our speed,” I noted.

“This is certainly a lot different from that yacht my family was on when I was nine,” she remarked.

“Oh yeah?” I smiled as we secured the lines to keep the sail in place.

“No sails at all,” she said. “And we definitely avoided storms.” she added with a smirk.

“I bet,” I nodded with a wry grin.

“More importantly, how long until we actually have to wake up?” she then wondered.

“Ahh, I think we have until the next Panarena night ends, so about eighteen in-game hours,” I replied.

“And we still won't have reached our destination.” Ari said with a sigh.

“Let's worry about this right now,” I returned, nodding towards the Siren Queen.

“Oh def.” she nodded back. “Speaking of which, I think I see our dragon.” she pointed ahead.

Coming towards us through the thundering storm was indeed Dracuoatlax, who at once espied the reason we had sent up the signal. He flew faster, and the Siren Queen halted, rising up out of the sea to met him. She raised her trident, and I saw surges of light running through it, as if they were charging up for an attack.

“Hit her, now! Everything we have! Interrupt that!” I called out, and Lysandra, Anhe, Lizzy, and Maryn rushed to the cannons while the rest of us used our ranged skills to attack. Just as the trident looked as if it might blast Dracuoatlax, we had apparently done enough damage to at least stagger her, and she recoiled as the dragon blasted her with flames.

“Keep hitting her with the cannons!” Ariana said to the others.

“Right!” Maryn nodded back.

“Do you think it's on-par with the world bosses?” she then asked me.

“You mean do I think that combo-skill will work on it?” I returned, and she nodded. “Heh, I won't be surprised if it doesn't, but I guess there's no harm in trying!”

“Try that first before having us waste ammo like this,” Lizzy grumpily said.

“I'm pretty sure you hit all your shots.” I quipped back at once.

“Still...” she rubbed the back of her head, looking up at the Siren Queen. “We'd better get some nice loot for this delay.”

“Get up there and finish it off, then!” Peaches gently elbowed me.

“Ehh...” I scratched my head, wondering how to get over to the monster in question. She was a good ways off, too far for me to jump and I definitely wasn't swimming over.

“Oh, come here,” Lysandra said as she came over to pick me up, taking off my bow and quiver.

“Huh? Sandra?” I wondered, and then tensed up as she began turning me around to stuff me into the cannon. “Oy!!” I cried out as my voice went an octave higher.

“Pffffft!” I heard Derwydd start cackling.

“Ohh. My gawd. I'mma pull up screenshot mode.” Lizzy said.

“Can't we do anything normally when they're around?” Peaches said with a shake of her head, but I caught the glimpse of a smile on her face before I was fully inserted.

“If I lose health from this I'm sticking you in next.” I told Lysandra.

“Sure.” she said with a laugh, and set off the cannon.

The world began racing by then, and I flew towards the Siren Queen in an arc. I saw Dracuoatlax rake her face with his claws, and she began raising her trident again when she had recovered. Quickly I readied my short-swords. When I was about to land, I entered the shadows, and once I had landed on her back I used the combo-skill. It did not take her down completely, but her health was damaged considerably. I heard a second cannon-blast, and as I fell into the water I saw Myanihia flying over next. She used the combo as well, and the Siren Queen began thrashing about -- but she was still lively.

Oh come on!! I sighed inwardly as Myanihia landed in the water beside me. I helped her to keep afloat, and she looked over with dissatisfaction.

“Still...” she murmured with irritation.

Then Dracuoatlax came in for the killing blow, using his tail to stun her and then sinking his teeth into her neck, draining the last of her considerable health. With a great shriek she expired, and on her death the rest of the sirens scattered. The dragon snorted in satisfaction, and then picked the two of us out of the waves to place us back on the ship.

“There is an island further ahead; but by the time you return from your other existence, I fear the enemy may overtake us.” he said to us. “I will await you there.”

“If it pleases your cunning,” I said to him, “Hide yourself there and then surprise the enemy with a ranged attack before continuing on. Some of us will keep the ship going, I think...”

“This is a fine plan, Lady Lana, and I am pleased by it,” the dragon grinned. “Very well! I bow to your stratagem, and shall strike when the moment is right!” he declared before flapping off again.

“That'll give him a rest, and give us some time to figure out how today is gonna go,” I said as he headed away once more.

“Hrrghh,” Lizzy groaned. “Forget school. I'm skipping.”

“Huh?!” Heali looked over in shock. “Our ride!”

“Ari, end the status-ailment,” I then said with a sheepish smile.

“Oh right!” she said, doing so at once.

“Oof! I can hear again!” Cloveroak exclaimed.

“What's up?” Derwydd asked.

“Derrr... we need a ride to school,” Healiina told him.

“Ahh... I think I can manage,” he said agreeably. “You're not going with Lizzy?”

“She's skipping.” his girlfriend replied with a soft glare towards her friend.

“Eh?!” the druid returned with surprise.

“Oh like the teachers are gonna care about me missing one day. So long as I don't go over ten this spring. I'll have nine left.” the blonde girl shrugged.

“I guess that's true...” Derwydd remarked, but Heali stuck her tongue out to Lizzy all the same.

“I'll pop in and out,” Peaches said, “And I'm sure Clover and Snow, at least, will do the same. Cylodel has some minions to manage, though.”

“Imbeciles is the word.” the portal-mage said with a dreary look on his face.

“You should really take that at-home position your wife wants you to go for.” Snow Dancer said to him.

“I'm considering it.” he nodded.

“But you kiddos should definitely head off. Even you, Elizasmith.” she said.

“Forget it. I made up my mind. I'll go nuts in school anyway with this going on in-game, and it is our ship.” the Nordian smith replied.

“I tried,” Snow Dancer grinned wryly.

“Let's at least get to the island and get our bearings back, and then we'll go as long as we can before we have to get off,” Maryn said, and with that we adjourned our little meeting. When we had collected our winnings from defeating the Siren Queen, we got ourselves back on course for the Dream Islands beyond the Veiled Sea, hoping our enemy was still delayed.

Just to be sure, I looked back, but there was nothing I could really see through the fog and rain that had descended upon the region. I thought I saw a faint glimmer of green again, but I shrugged it off for now.

***

“Siren Queen's Pendant, huh?” Healina mused as she looked it over. “It's got some nice bonuses for me, but Peaches could also use it.”

“Nah. It's more geared for aquatic bonuses, and I'm too much of a landling. All yours, hon.” the Hauflin guild-leader said.

“Okay.” Heali smiled back.

“Though I'm definitely taking this spear for Aquariel.” Peaches remarked as she looked it over.

“Please do!” I smiled, recalling the player in question. She was a Sea Elf like Heali, and she had almost maxed out the spear skills tree from what I had heard.

“As for that flimsy dress, I don't care what happens to it.” Peaches sniffed, and Ariana looked over at me with a grin.

“Ah-heh...” I nervously laughed. “It has a great swimming bonus, though...” I said as I looked it over.

“And some stealth on it too, huh?” Ari noticed as she looked with me.

“Ehh...”

“We'll hang onto it for now. Maybe we can auction it!”

“Oh! Good idea,” I agreed, and she smiled.

“Whoever buys that thing is desperate for attention.” Peaches quipped, and I exchanged a grin with Ariana.

“She's right, you know,” my partner whispered.

“Well I'm not keeping it,” I returned, and she snickered.

“I see the island ahead; once we pass it, we'll have five hours until the kids have to get off for the day, and then we'll have a couple of in-game days before they're back.” Snow Dancer said.

“Most of them.” Cloveroak said with a nod towards the still-adamant Lizzy.

“I'll have to get Bubs out to help us, though I'm not sure if he'll stick around when I'm offline.” Peaches mused.

“He... might...?” I frowned, trying to remember if that was the case.

“It depends on his loyalty meter,” Healina nodded.

“Ahh! Good. Mine's at one-hundred and ten out of one-fifty.”

“Ooh, nice,” our healer commented.

“Thankees!”

“That's a lot of card games,” I quietly remarked, and Ari softly giggled next to me.

“Still no sign of them,” Maryn said as she came down from the crow's nest.

“Hmm.” I sighed apprehensively.

“Oh don't worry about Venomheart. We'll keep ahead of them.” Peaches told us.

“Somehow or another,” Snow Dancer said with a half-grin.

“It'd still be nice to see where they were,” Maryn shrugged.

“True.” Peaches agreed.

We passed the island on our left a few minutes later; I saw Dracuoatlax cat-napping in a stand of trees that just managed to hide him. He winked as we passed by him, and I waved back. I heard him let out a prodigious yawn before we completely passed the island, and then he returned his gaze to the southwestern horizons.

“He's like a big cat, huh?” Peaches grinned, and we laughed at the remark.

“He really is,” Ariana agreed, “Though we should definitely never say so to him!”

“You'd get eaten for sure!” the older woman quipped, and we laughed again.