They fell from the ship. Not a deadly height to fall, assuming one fell correctly, and assuming there was sufficient water to fall into.
Gemma pulled Bobby over the edge of the ship with more thought for speed than direction. If she’d been on her own, tumbling through the air, she might have managed to nicely pivot to a feet first position, ready for the landing. Alas, with Bobby in tow, this was more difficult. Bobby flailed about, attempting to put out the flames. Gemma tired to rotate them both, but only managed a partial spin.
Earlier that day she had overheard her father mention that the beach dropped away, but she had no idea how far out that happened. She had one idea for how she might soften their poorly angled landing, but that relied on the water depth being sufficient. It was a toss up for which was more likely to kill them, the potentially shallow depth and hard landing beneath, or the surface of the water itself. Well, their angle was more certain so she took a risk, and blasted the hard surface of the water with a large fireball, creating nice soft bubbles.
Not far away, Sasha tried to make an ice bridge, but without a fixed base, the thing just collapsed into ice crystals beneath her, further breaking up the surface of the water below.
Katrina reached for a necklace. Bobby had returned the telekinetically infused one to her, but it wasn’t that one which she wanted. Telekinesis was a relative power and performing it while flying through the air was levels above what even Shiv was capable of. But Shiv wasn’t the only crewman whose power she had borrowed. It was Neko’s magic that she reached for now, her last necklace. For what they really needed beneath them, was more water.
Mid flight, with panicked hands, she reached for the chain in her pocket. Instead of managing a solid grasp, she only succeeded in opening her pocket up wider. The two necklaces in that pocket slipped out. One she caught by a finger. The other fell from her grasp, lost to her forever in the waves below. She knew not which one she had lost. She gripped the remaining chain tight in her palm hoping this was the right necklace. She asked for the water to reach up to them, to draw the tide back in and up, if just for a moment.
She felt the magic working and she sighed in relief. A sigh that was snatched from her lips as a wall of water hit into her from the side.
A giant wave swept up, embracing them all mid-fall. It pulled them apart and turned them over and over like a washing machine. It saved them from broken bones and threatened them with drowning instead.
It was Bobby who pulled a spluttering Katrina up from the waves, once the watery ambush was over.
“You’re not burnt!” she cried gladly, seeing whatever damage had been done, he’d managed to heal. But Bobby simply set her on her feet and turned away, searching the surface for someone else. Finding what he was looking for he shouted, “Seraphina!” And ran to help her up.
Katrina rolled her eyes and shivered. The water was cold. Up ahead she was relieved to see her younger sister, already making her way out up onto the beach.
From over to the left, Salem cried, “Oh my gods! I am never doing that again.”
Katrina turned to see Bobby put his arm around Seraphina and walk her toward the sand. But that was all she could see. There was someone missing.
“Where’s Gemma?!” she cried out.
Bobby stopped his walk at Katrina’s cry. He turned and scanned the surrounding water.
Large waves made it hard to see. Up above, the ship continued to burn, although the pirates seemed to be starting to get some of the flames under control.
“Where is she?” Katrina cried again. She searched the ocean but she saw no red hair.
Bobby pointed Seraphina in the direction of the beach while he turned to wade back out, looking for any sign of Gemma.
Katrina felt her chest tighten.
But then, out of the waves in front of them, burst their fire-headed sister, wielding Bobby’s dropped sword, her eyes gleaming.
Gemma cast her gaze upon her siblings and the scene further up the beach, and upon seeing all were unharmed, she laughed wildly.
She half swam toward Bobby, then finding solid footing underneath she pulled herself up. “You’re okay.”
Bobby sighed. “No, t-thanks to you,” he chided with a smile and wide-eyes, like he’d seen far too much adventure tonight.
“Hey, I saved you,” Gemma teased back as she handed him back his sword. Each of them was running high on adrenaline. Banter was familiar and safe.
“You set me on f-fire,” Bobby replied between chattering breaths.
“Yeah, in hindsight, maybe that wasn’t the best plan.”
Katrina walked with them out of the water. She noticed Gemma glance her way every now and again to check she was still there.
As Katrina walked out of the water and on to the beach she fumbled through her pockets to see what charm she had lost. The one she had saved, was indeed the water elemental infusement, and she still had the cat charm, the music note, and the pocket watch. Only the anchor was missing. Her strength had been lost to the waves. She glanced sadly back out at the dark sea but did not stop.
They gathered on the beach and looked back toward the ship. No ladders had been thrown down yet, but they could see figures pointing toward them and the flames that had threatened to engulf the ship had now been snuffed out.
“We need to keep moving,” Gemma remarked.
No one objected as they started to jog along the sand.
“Do you want a jacket?” Bobby asked Seraphina.
“I’m not sure how much good it’ll do, we’re all wet anyway,” she replied.
Bobby handed her his jacket regardless and she took it without objection. “I’m so glad you guys came to find me. I never would have made it off that ship otherwise.”
Bobby smiled, “You were most of the way there. You probably could have snuck out.”
She gazed warmly at him while they jogged. His face was somehow far more appealing to her than not tripping over the sand. “Still, I’m glad you came.”
The warm lights of their own ship pulled them onward.
Nothing barred in their way. Until, suddenly there right in front of them, magicked out of thin air, stood a handful of pirates. Five men in all, each one gripping the hand of another. They released their hold once they appeared. Evidently one of them was a teleporter.
At the back of the group, Gemma recognised the man from town. The short white-haired one. He grinned at them now, a slow menacing grin. Then he licked his lips. He was the shortest one there. “Give us the girl,” he purred. “And we’ll let you on your way.”
Gemma didn’t believe him. Like her mother, she had an eye for that sort of thing. He grinned but his eyes were dead. She still had her sword, and she gripped it’s hilt tightly. They were so close. Half way back. They had almost made it. There was no way she was being stopped now. There was no way they were handing over Seraphina.
The white-haired man, Pete, bowed his head. The four other men stepped forward toward the kids, swords raised.
Sirius was lying on his bed, book in hand, when Amanda returned from talking to the crew.
“Did you sing for them?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“Will you sing for me?”
She smiled. “Maybe. I’ll just go check on the kids first.”
He leaned over and hooked a finger through her belt loop, pulling her towards him with a cheeky grin. “I’m sure they’re fine. They’re probably wiped out from whatever adventures they’ve been having.”
Her smiled deepened, creating small familiar crinkles at the edges of her eyes. She gently took his hand. “All the same.” She bent down so her face was close to his. “I’ll sing you something when I get back.”
“Something sweet?”
She wiggled her eyebrows, then pecked him on the lips. “You bet.”
He leaned back on the bed contentedly, big goofy smile on his face. “Alright.”
“Run!” Gemma barked at her siblings and Seraphina.
Beside her she saw Bobby draw his sword.
Gemma and Bobby were outnumbered, but Gemma knew all they needed was for one person to get back to the ship and alert the rest of the crew.
“Go!” Gemma barked again, urging her other siblings with her eyes.
Sasha took off running toward the dunes. Salem vanished into thin air. Katrina fumbled in her pockets for her charms. Seraphina took a hesitant step backwards, wide eyes never leaving Bobby.
The man on the far right end of the pirates moved first. His dark hair and his long blue coat were buffeted by the wind, as he turned toward Sasha and he raised a hand.
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The next thing she knew, Sasha was flying through the air, pulled back toward the pirates.
Opposite the first man, and nearer the sea, a fair-haired man stepped toward Gemma. He was the smallest apart from Pete, and the youngest by a long show. He came at her fast, perhaps eager to prove himself, for Gemma was pleasantly surprised to find that he wasn’t very good.
He left himself open as he struck with wide slow swings. Gemma darted around, putting herself closer to the sea and further from this one’s friends. “What’s the problem, afraid to fight a girl,” she teased, attempting to break his focus. It worked.
He rushed her, with no thought for a proper attack. She ducked beneath his swing and placed her blade between his legs. She sliced across sideways, cutting the tendons that ran behind his knee. She did not wish to kill anyone. She just needed to stop them attacking, get them injured on the ground long enough that they could get away. One down.
The man screamed and fell to the sand. He dropped his sword and clutched at the back of his knee with two hands. Gemma hoped the pain would distract him from whatever magic he was capable of.
She glanced back toward the rest of the pirates. She noted Pete scowl, but she had little time to celebrate this brief win. A taller and bigger man, this one full-bearded and red-headed, started toward her. He’d initially been headed in the direction of Katrina and Seraphina, but his crewmate’s scream had drawn his attention to Gemma.
She briefly thought about setting them alight but her fire control was poor even when she had time to focus, and this second man gave her little time to even consider the option.
She did however, have time to goad him with a prideful grin, something she regretted as soon as he made his first strike, for he was nothing like his crew mate. This man could fight and he could fight well.
Gemma blocked him at first, but his strikes were hard. Too hard. It was like fighting her father. The hits made her very bones shake. She knew then that she was fighting a strongarm, and so she instinctively changed her fighting style. Bobby often accused her of fighting too directly, using force she lacked access to, taking too many risks. She did it because it worked on Bobby, but here, she was far younger and weaker than her opponent and any misjudgement could mean death. Her father had long ago taught her how to fight someone like this and by now she was well practiced.
She danced around him, dodging blows, not parrying a single one directly. Instead she’d hit from the side, guiding his blade in one direction while she tried to slip in from another. But this man was good and he kept pace with her, never letting her get close enough to strike, never seeming to tire.
Blow after blow was struck. They moved almost as if they were one force. Soon, half the lower beach had been rearranged with the sand kicked up from their feet. They inched slowly down the slope, ever getting closer to the water, and further from the others. Each one was completely focused on trying to out maneuver the other.
The remaining man who stood at the front of the pirate group, was yet another heavy set, muscular fellow. Bobby swallowed a lump as the man walked toward him. But he stood his ground, tried to keep his breathing calm and remember all his sword training.
The big guy was only a few paces from him, when suddenly he tripped over something invisible and face planted right into the sand.
Surprised at first, Bobby took an instinctive step back and just stared at the man trying to pick himself back up. A scream from Sasha drew his attention and propelled him into action.
The telekinetic had brought Sasha skidding across the sand, to end up right at his feet. Now, he raised a sword high above her.
Bobby booted the man on the ground in the face to buy himself time. Then he narrowly missed knocking over an invisible Salem, noticed only by the brief exclamation the his brother gave as Bobby dashed past.
He put himself and his sword right between Sasha and the telekinetic at the exact moment the man made to bring his deadly weapon down.
“You want my sister, you deal with me!” Bobby snarled as he blocked the man’s strike with his sword.
“Gladly,” the telekinetic replied. He pushed Bobby’s sword out to the side. Then, with a twist of the wrist and no physical contact, he raised Bobby into the air.
A moment later Bobby was back on the ground again, as Sasha, forgotten by the pirate, flung a handful of sand right into their enemy’s face.
“Take that!” She threw a few more handfuls for good measure.
The man swung out blindly with his sword, and they were both forced to leap backward, out of range of the sharp blade, but he was, at least for now, temporarily blinded.
Seeing that the guy, that had been tripped by Salem, was once again attempting to rouse himself up, Katrina saw a chance to make herself useful. She clutched the dreamwalking charm and reached for the man’s skin, knowing she had to be quick.
At first she could feel it working, but then, something happened that she’d never experienced before. Someone was fighting her magic. She could feel it. The dreamwalking wasn’t working. Worse, she could feel them turning it against her. Her head and eyelids grew heavy.
She flung herself back away from the prone man, and onto the wet sand. She dug her hands into the ground, trying to feel the grains, anything to keep herself tied to this reality and awake. She fought back, but the magic in the necklace was draining, and it was draining fast.
Then it was gone.
And she was still awake. Still alert. Her mind was back, sharp as a trap. She blinked.
She looked around for the culprit. It could not be the man who she had tried to sleep, for she watched as he, now also much more aware, chased a visible Salem across the beach, swiping at him with his sword, too fast for Salem to get the chance to vanish again. She gasped as she watched one swipe cut clean through Salem’s shirt. But the shirt was loose, and it was only fabric that got cut, at least she hoped it was.
But Bobby, was running quickly to his aid, leaving Sasha to capably manage the blinded one.
Sasha iced her enemy’s feet and continued her sand assault.
Further down the beach, Gemma fought the strong one.
Behind Katrina, Seraphina stood on her own, watching everything, wide-eyed and unsure.
The injured pirate still lay on the sand whimpering.
But there was one more.
Katrina met his eyes and she knew in that moment that it was him. Pete, the oily-haired fiend with the straight white teeth. He looked right back at her, and he licked his lips.
He walked toward her slowly. He was in no rush. After all, he was a borrower. He could use whatever magic anyone on this beach had, and given he had even managed to tap into her dremwalking infusement, Katrina knew he was no regular borrower. She had not thought a borrower could borrow infused magic, only raw power, and yet, he had. Had it just been while she was using it? She dared not use another.
When he reached the injured pirate, Pete picked up the man’s sword, and without losing eye-contact with Katrina, he plunged it deep into his crew mate’s chest with a sickening crunch. The man coughed and spluttered one last attempt at breath, and then he fell down dead, sword still stuck in him. Pete carried no sword on his own self. At his belt, instead of a sword, a short, curved knife, grinned in the moonlight.
“Aw for fucks sake. Yer gonna make us walk back, Pete!” The man now fighting Bobby called out, taking a moment to look away. The move allowed Bobby to get a solidly good swipe in right across the man’s eye and cheek. But Katrina watched in horror as the man’s face mended itself back together, and then he turned, blood-covered, back to deal with Bobby.
The healer struck fast, getting his own hit in against Bobby’s upper arm. Then another on the other side. Blood ran down Bobby’s skin, and fell in droplets to the ground, dying the sand red. Bobby’s skin healed over just like his opponent’s had. But it was slow, much slower than the one he fought.
His opponent laughed raucously as he saw that Bobby too, was a healer, and a worse healer than himself. It seemed to motivate the man to hurry up and finish things, for he started to strike harder and faster. Bobby took more hits. His footwork grew clumsier. He barely dodged a swipe at his neck.
Katrina tried to watch but a force made her head turn away without her willing it. She tried to look back to see how Bobby was doing, but with borrowed telekinesis, Pete held her head steady. She could only look right at the grinning man coming towards her.
He forced her to watch as he held out one hand, and around it, he formed a smooth flame, only it’s tip flickered in the windy night. Then his hand itself vanished into thin air so it looked like he had a flame for a hand. He took another step. He was in no rush, appearing to take great pleasure in the terror he was inflicting.
He was halfway to Katrina when he suddenly extinguished the flame. Then, with a flick of his hand, Katrina found herself off the ground and upside down. Before she had a chance to figure out which way gravity was, she was flying through the air. She hit the sand hard, hearing a sharp crack as she did. But her thoughts were immediately distracted with her attempts to suck in a breath. She felt like all the air had been pushed out of her chest and it refused to return. Finally she managed to gulp in a glorious mouthful and to fill her lungs with air, only to wince as the movement against her rib cage sent sharp spikes of pain through her entire body cavity.
She felt hands on her arm and she tried to pull away with a loud cry, thinking it was the white-toothed pirate.
But the hands were warm and gentle and a voice spoke, “It’s okay, it’s me.”
Seraphina knelt next to her with concerned eyes.
Katrina could feel the healing magic start to do it’s work as heat filled her chest. “Run,” she tried to tell Seraphina.
Seraphina shook her head.
Katrina did not know how far she had been thrown. She did not know how far Pete was from them. If he still came for them, or if he had turned his attention elsewhere. She did not know how her siblings faired. She knew only pain and heat as the stars above her blurred.
Salem watched Bobby fight. He wanted to help, but the swiftness of the pirate’s movements made getting in close, even while invisible, a dangerous task. It was a glance down the beach to where Sasha still pelted the telekinetic with sand, as well as a mix of icy hail, that gave Salem an idea.
He reached down to the sand at his feet, made himself invisible again, then threw it right towards the face of the one Bobby was fighting.
Alas, the wind was strong tonight, and the direction was not quite the same for Salem as it was for Sasha. Three cries of, “Arrgh!” rang out in the night as sand pelted everyone in the vicinity.
Luckily Bobby managed a faster recovery and struck out, getting in a good blow at his opponent’s ankle. The slice went right down into the bone, and the pirate swore and hobbled about for a few moments before the injury started to heal over itself. Even then, it was obvious it caused him some pain. Bobby got in more blows, harder, faster. He took risks, and he paid for them. But nothing serious, nothing he couldn’t heal.
Salem, seeing that Bobby was getting the upper hand, found a better position and threw in more handfuls of sand. This time his throws hit their mark. Together they pushed the pirate back. Together they seemed to be winning.
Salem’s fear turned to thrill, and between throws, he taunted the pirate with a few limericks of his own making.
“There once was a pirate from and old dark ship,
Fought some boys who were young and ripped.
But they threw some sand,
Took all of his land,
And of all his treasure, he was stripped!
There once was a man who could barely stand,
His legs all wibbly wobbly and,
He tripped on a seashell,
Fell on his arsehole,
And ended up face in the sand!
There once was a man who could barely fight,
He challenged some youngins in the middle of the night.
He thought he could take em,
But they sure showed him
The kicked his arse and told him with might!
There once was- ack!”
Salem felt himself pulled back off his feet with telekinesis. Sand filled his mouth and nose as he was pushed down on his stomach and dragged along the beach, away from where Bobby was left to fight the pirate alone.
Gemma was losing. Pete’s attack on his own crew mate, and the screams from her siblings had distracted her. Her own opponent was more bloodthirsty and skilled than Bobby’s and he wasted no time with silly swipes. He went for the attacks that did the most damage. And he did not tire as fast as she had hoped.
Gemma felt a sword plunge right through the middle of her gut and pull back out. She got her own back and sliced a chunk of flesh off his left quad, but it wasn’t as bad for him as it was for her and she knew it. Gut wounds weren’t fast killers, not usually, but she wasn’t convinced she had enough time on her side to finish this fight and get a healer. She kept going. She had to. She paid no mind to any pain, for she could not feel any at all, but she did feel the world get lighter, more distant, almost as if she weren’t really there.
Finally she lost her footing. She landed back on the sand, hands thrown out to the side to soften her fall. She was well practiced in falling and her soft landing was instinctual. She injured nothing when she hit the sand, but her attempts to save herself from a fall injury, left her arms out wide and unable to protect her front. She looked up in time to see a sword coming straight for her, a strike that she knew she could not stop. Her instinct for flame was forgotten, unpracticed in battle, and too unskilled to use as a safe defense this close to an opponent anyway. She closed her eyes, and prepared for the end.