Katrina had been holed up in her cabin, reading for the early afternoon. As they approached Rambandit, Salem went down to let her know they were about to disembark.
“Earth to Katrina,” he remarked as he burst into the room without bothering to knock.
She looked up at him with a frown, Half her face was hidden behind a large, very old, black, leather bound book, so all he could see was the narrowing of her dark eyebrows above her makeup lined eyes. Why she bothered to put on eyeliner when they were on a ship with no mirrors and no other kids their age, Salem would never understand. She probably had a mirror of her own somewhere. But it was the book that caught Salem’s attention.
“What are you reading?” he asked, bending sideways so he could make out the title.
She dropped the book to her lap with a large thud at his question, faster than lightening but still too slow to beat her brother’s gaze.
He frowned as he stood back up. “Why are you reading a spell book? That’s blood magic in there.” He’d recognised the specific book too. It was one he’d come across once while looking for something else in the basement beneath their house, and he’d flicked through it before, if only briefly.
She shut the book and put it to the side. “It’s not all blood magic, and so what, even mum and dad use blood magic sometimes. It’s not like you have to bleed people, just the odd bird or two for a small spell, or maybe a rabbit, or you can use your own blood.”
Salem eyed the book warily. “And what, you’re just going to stick with small spells?” He knew too well the longing look Katrina always got whenever anyone mentioned sorcery and the higher magical arts. She was more ambitious than most. She probably dreamed of ivory towers, and couldn’t wait to leave the rest of them behind.
She slid forward off her bed and put one hand on the hip of her black skinny jeans. The other rested by her side, clenched in a small fist. “A good witch can do harder spells with less blood.”
“Why can’t you just be content with the magic you were born with?” Salem shot back, not even sure why he was so angry. All he knew was that blood magic was a slippery slope, and that it both scared him and made him feel like Katrina was cheating at something.
Katrina strode right up to him, hands on both hips now. “Because Salem, the magic I was born with lets me do anything, as long as I have another person nearby whose magic I can borrow. You see? I can’t make my own.” She pointed a finger at him, waved her hands about, and then clenched her fists tight in frustration. “But with spells I can, and if I get good enough then I can put that magic into tools, like the flutes we have on board. I can make infusements. I can make any infusements I want, and then...” She spun on her heels and walked back to the bed, her tone shifting from anger to sickly sweet, “And then I can rule the world.” She spun back to see his expression at that last statement. Her chin was lifted and she had the twist of a triumphant half-smile starting to form on her face.
Salem was never sure if she was joking when she said things like that, but he could see he wasn’t getting anywhere here. “Whatever.” He rolled his eyes, feigning indifference. “We’re almost there by the way. We’ll be landing soon.”
He noted the way her green eyes lit up with interest at that statement. Of course she was interested in Rambandit, it was a Sorcerer’s town after all. “Planning on shopping for some new spell books?” He couldn’t help but tease her.
She just pushed her chin out as if above it all, and remarked in a pretentious tone, “I’m surprised you didn’t bring that silly human-made gameboy you love so much.”
It was Salem’s turn to gloat. He couldn’t have helped the small smile that slowly spread across his face until it was a huge grin, even if he’d wanted to.
One look at his face and Katrina’s expression fell, first into a frown, and then something resembling curiosity, and finally a mild form of hope. Sure, she might call it ‘silly,’ just to tease him, but truth was, she was the only other one in the family, apart from their mother, who actually took an interest in the computer stuff, both a little bit of programming and some of the games that Salem seemed to live in. Besides, there was only so much book reading and makeup reapplying one could do on a ship before one looked for other activities.
“It’s only got so much battery,” Salem replied, and then he faded from view before she could ask him where he had hidden it.
Katrina was left staring at the spot he had been before his skin and clothes alike had merged into the background. Her frown returned and she clenched her fists again. “You can’t hide it from me forever,” she called after him as she listened to his invisible footsteps move away down the hall.
She sighed, and started to head that way herself, but when she got to the door she paused and looked back at the book on the bed. It had been an interesting spell she had been reading about before her brother had so rudely interrupted. Perhaps she could bring it with her and find some nice place on shore to read it, and maybe if she did, a sorcerer might stumble past and ask her about what she was reading, and she in turn could ask them things about sorcery, maybe even find out what she needed to do to become one. Or maybe a pretty boy who came from a family of sorcerers would take an interest in her and invite her on a walk, where he’d fall hopelessly in love with her and ask for her postal address so he could write her romantic letters the way lovers used to. One could only dream, but dream Katrina did.
From her spot in the crows nest, Sasha had watched them adjust the sails to slow their approach. Once they got closer, she clambered down the rigging and ran to the bow of the boat. With the wind behind them, they'd had plenty of speed.
With clear skies and good visibility ahead, the approach was made easy, despite the quickness of it. Sirius was well practiced at shouting out the right commands at the right moments. Neko stood beside Sasha at the front of the ship. As a minor water elemental he helped in the process by adjusting the friction of the water hitting the bow of the boat. As he did his job he hummed an old pirate song.
“There lived a sailor out at sea
Who sung a lot on the briny breeze
He sang of land, and love, and thieves.
He sang of woman on their knees.
He stole and pillaged far and wide,
and sang of one to become his bride.
He sang of heartbreak, heartache, chests.
He sang of woman with big... err... chests...
Chests of gold and not much mold.”
It wasn’t quite the correct next word nor line in the song but Neko had suddenly become very aware that the song he was singing may not be quite appropriate for a child of 11 and had failed to come up with a better replacement that still made sense.
Sasha frowned. “You said chests already.”
“Yes, well, repetition is common in a lot of songs.” Neko turned back to focus on his work in silence. It didn’t take long before he was humming a new tune though, this time one without words.
Sasha leaned out over the front, as far as she could so she could watch as he pulled the water toward them, slowing them down. Beneath the waves she caught sight of something grey. She gasped in joy as a dolphin fin breached the surface. The longer she looked the more dark shapes she saw, and there just off to the side was something white, feather-scaled, and much larger.
“Neko!” she pointed at it.
He turned his head to watch and eventually he smiled. “It’s a water dragon. They’re supposed to be lucky if you see one out at sea. “Rambandit must have a few limestone caves.”
Sasha nodded, never taking her eyes from it. She knew all about how water dragons liked to eat the calcium carbonate rock, leaving many caverns and tunnels in their wake. Water dragons were also much friendlier than fire dragons.
As the dragon dove down for the last time and the dolphins departed back out to deeper water, Sasha turned her attention toward the incoming city of Rambandit. It was built of stone by someone with a good eye for architecture and who had obviously been heavily influenced by the castles of old, only with a smoother more rounded look. The stone itself came in many colours. There were pinks, and blues, and yellows, and whites, but not in an obnoxious way. They came in pastel shades and they blended like marble, as if the rock were naturally that colour. Truthfully, Sasha couldn’t be sure that it wasn’t natural. Given the sorcerer’s that lived here though, she doubted it. If one squinted, the city almost didn’t look like a city at all, more like large rounded natural rock formations poking up among the canopies of trees that covered the hills of Rambandit.
She was also surprised at how warm it was. This was the southern hemisphere and they were further south of both Little Rock and the Tundras. Sasha knew that the tundras were that way because some weather elementals had severely messed up at some point causing the weather to be stuck on freezing, and were now forbidden to change anything back because the local towns depended on the cold for the survival of their fishing trade. Some rare sea fish that bred fast, tasted good, and really liked freezing temperatures brought in most of the income to the tundra towns. Sasha had tasted it once but it hadn’t appealed to her at all. Apparently it was a delicacy everywhere else.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Rambandit’s warmth was no accident though, nor was it fixed like the cold in the tundras. The inhabitants of Rambandit were rich and they liked their island to be a nice balmy 28 degrees Celsius all year round, so they regularly hired weather elementals to make it so.
Sasha had never been to Rambandit before but she had been to the tundras, and she liked the snow. Although she did think maybe that having snow year round might get a bit boring. Back home in Little Rock, they usually only got snow in winter, and the first snowfall was always something special for Sasha. She liked being able to swim in the rivers in summer too though. She felt that they were quite lucky to live somewhere they could do both. She looked out at the reflective stone of Rambandit and she could already feel the heat making her sluggish. She hoped they didn’t stay here too long. She hoped, maybe if she was lucky that she might see another water dragon while they were here. At least that would make up for the sweltering temperature.
Sasha was in for a different kind of animal encounter. As they walked down of the gang plank she spotted what looked like a family of kittens playing on the sand by some rocks, away from the port and further down the beach. Before her mother could get out a warning to all her kids to stay nearby, Sasha was off running toward them.
She slowed her approach as she got near so as not to frighten them off. She noticed a mother cat with them, and that it seemed to be favoring one of it’s front paws more than the other.
Amanda watched as all her children took off in different directions the moment they set foot on shore.
Katrina went right, walking at a brisk pace toward some trees, with what looked like a book tucked under one arm. Gemma and Salem went straight ahead, up the road toward the main street of town. Sasha ran to the left along the sandy shore.
Only Bobby remained, always the good child. He glanced toward his mother and then after Sasha, as if he didn’t want to leave his younger sister on her own, but also didn’t want to just rush off like the others had.
Amanda sighed, caught his eye, and nodded at him to chase after her. At least she could trust Bobby not to get into trouble, and Sasha would listen to him, unlike the others. So that was two children relatively safe at least.
“Make sure you’re all back within two hours,” she called after them, although she doubted anyone but Bobby heard.
Sirius stepped off the ship and stood beside her, surveying their surroundings. “Mmm, fast trip, good weather, smooth sailing. It almost makes one want to sing.”
Amanda smiled up at him. His happiness was catching but there was work to be done. “Maybe later.” She gave his chest a gentle pat, then went with him to go and begin the unloading.
As Sasha approached the cat and kittens, they looked up at her and then dashed through a crack in some nearby rocks. Sasha crouched down low so she could peer in. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could see several frightened eyes peering back.
“If you wait quietly awhile they’ll come back out,” a voice spoke from above her.
Sasha looked up to find a young girl about her own age, sitting on top of the rock. The girl had brown hair, and skin with patches of colour in varying shades. She’d never seen anyone with skin like that before.
“What’s wrong with your skin?” she asked.
The girl slipped down off the rock and shrugged. “It’s always been like that. I can alter it if I want but it takes some effort so I mostly just leave it as is.” She held out her hands in front of herself, and Sasha watched as her skin blended into one solid tone, then the other, and finally back to it’s original patchy look.
“You’re a shapeshifter!” Sasha exclaimed. Sometimes she wasn’t sure about asking what a person’s powers were. It could be considered rude if you didn’t know the person well enough. Adults tended to care more than kids though and given this girl had so willingly shown Sasha her power it didn’t seem to matter to this girl.
The girl beamed a wide proud smile and nodded. She glanced down at the crack where the cats had gone. Two of the furry fuzzballs were now cautiously poking their heads out. “Sometimes I shift into a cat and I follow them around to see what they get up to. You have to be careful though, especially on the other side of the island. If I do it for too long sometimes I start to think I’m an actual cat and the sorcerers like to catch the cats for spellwork. One time I ended up in one of their traps but they have this like, magic defuser thing, that stops you using your powers, so then they knew I wasn't a cat, luckily.”
Sasha nodded. Borrower magic could do that. Proper borrowers. Katrina had lectured her several times about the difference. Katrina was an infuser and people often called infusers ‘borrowers’ because of the similarities in powers, but it wasn’t technically correct. Both could use the magic of another who was nearby, essentially borrowing their power, and this was the most common usage, however only a real borrower could negate the magic of another, and only an infuser could lock that magic into an item. The problem was that both powers were relatively rare and the distinguishing features between them sometimes weren’t accessible until one’s teenage years. Katrina could infuse some magic into an item but it usually only lasted a short time and lost much of it’s strength in the process. Plus most of her magic was borrowed from her siblings, and the quality of an infused item also related strongly to the ability of the person who’s magic one had infused it with, both in terms of control and power.
“They catch cats for spells?” Sasha asked in alarm. She didn’t like magic that used animals.
The girl nodded. “Well, they’re not supposed to at the moment, cause they caught too many and now there’s lots of rats. So they’re supposed to be catching the rats instead, but the rats are hard to catch.”
Something wound it’s way between Sasha’s legs and she glanced down to find the mother cat had come right out.
“See, I told you,” the girl said. “Her name is Molly by the way, and mine is Carmen.”
“I’m Sasha. Um, what happened to her paw?” Sasha asked of the mother cat who was still limping.
The girl got a worried look on her face. “I don’t know, maybe she got it caught on something and twisted it.”
Suddenly the cats all ran for the shelter of the rock cave again.
“Sorry,” a voice remarked.
Sasha glanced up to see that her brother, Bobby, had joined them.
“They’ll come out again, you just have to wait,” Carmen told him.
Bobby nodded.
“The mother cat has a sore foot,” Sasha told Bobby. “You think you could fix it?”
“I can try.”
They sat there on the sand awhile until the cats braved their company again. Bobby found that once she’d gotten over her initial wariness the mother cat was actually quite friendly. She let him touch her, which was good, for he could not heal without physical contact. It seemed that one of the bones in her foot had fractured, most likely from a hard landing. Bones were easy for Bobby to heal though, so soon enough the cat was walking fine again.
They played with the kittens, and Sasha chatted excitedly with her new friend. Bobby, seeing Sasha was in good company and unlikely to run off anywhere else, left them to go and find his other siblings. He fancied himself his sibling’s protector, not so much in terms of fighting, that was better left for Gemma, but more in terms of keeping track of where everyone was and if they were alright. He kept things in order, which made it easier for his parents.
He ran into Gemma and Salem, just coming out of town, already bored.
“It’s mostly bars, and cafes, and souvenirs. Apparently the good stuff's all further up the hill,” Gemma told him. “You want to go duel on the beach?”
Bobby agreed and Salem tagged along to offer an unrequested pointed running commentary of the match. He did a good job at it, making humourous jabs at both side’s fighting form while also playing up their better talents. Bobby wasn’t so good at attacking but he was a master dodge man, while Gemma attacked ferociously but sometimes recklessly, letting losing Bobby still get in an occasional devastating hit, and no one would have argued that Salem lacked career opportunities in sports commentary.
Back near the ship, Sirius talked with a tall shaggy haired sorcerer.
The sorcerer’s face was youthful and soft in appearance, but his hair was a stark white. He wore a small pair of round glasses, whose lenses were a light blue and whose placement he kept adjusting. He moved with small hurried movements that reminded Sirius of a bird.
“Um, so we have a problem.” The sorcerer pushed his glasses up his nose nervously. “It seems one of the infusements has worn off, just for the one crate, or maybe they forgot to do this one. Either way it’s a bad batch for sure and that crate will need to be returned. Just that one, the rest are fine. Now, we’ll cover the reshipping cost and they can reimburse us by wire, but I know you only have so much space...”
“It’ll be fine,” Sirius replied interrupting him, figuring the guy preferred the conversation to be over quickly. He was used to sorcerers with an aversion to social interaction. Most of them preferred to hide in their studies and focus on their research rather than go out and about. Sirius didn’t really like unnecessary pleasantries himself so he kept things brief and professional. Not, like his wife who had probably already made friends with several of the locals and knew how many kids they had and what their summer solstice plans were. She stood further down the port, in conversation with one of their clients whose art they were taking back to a dealer in Little Rock.
Done with his flute deal, Sirius turned his attention to the horizon and frowned. To their north, clouds were gathering, not yet dark and forboding, but there were enough of them packed there that Sirius knew it was only a matter of time.
Amanda joined him a moment later.
“I’d like to get moving sooner rather than later.” Sirius nodded at the horizon. “I know we’re ahead of schedule and I said we could spend a night here but by the look of those clouds there’s a storm brewing and I’d rather get under it and out the other side before it breaks.”
She followed his gaze and nodded, but then remarked, “You need to get some sleep.”
He nodded in acknowledgement. Truth was, he often didn’t sleep well. Dark dreams marred his nights regularly. That, and in the excitement of their fast approach he’d been cutting into his sleeping time a bit to better enjoy the weather. “Pierre can steer for awhile.”
“Hey Captain!”
They each turned to find, Billie, one of the members of the crew, walking toward them. “I was just chatting to a psychic from the town about the weather,” he started.
Sirius groaned inwardly. While psychics were a real thing, the power was rare enough and so sought after that anyone who claimed to be a psychic was almost certainly a sham. Most psychic either went mad from their visions, unable to discern reality from possibility, or they got wrapped up in employment by some aristocrat, or worse, killed by an aristocrat so their opponents couldn’t get their hands on them. A good psychic soon learned to keep their powers to themselves. But Billie was of a superstitious nature.
He continued, “And she said, ‘if you sail on through you'll find what you're looking for."
“What does that even mean? That could refer to anything.” Sirius shook his head. He was not one to placate someone in their fantasies. He may not speak much, but he always told it straight.
Billie was used to this response though. “Well I think it means we’ll have good weather, or that things will work out in the end.”
“Well, I suppose you can’t get your money back if we end up dead,” Sirius replied in complete deadpan. Beside him he noticed his wife try to hide a smirk. She was usually much more tactful than he was.
Billie held up two hands and nodded. “Look, I know you don’t believe that most advertised psychics are real but there was one back in Little Rock that me ma went to, and she told me ma that she had better go to the doctor. And you know what? She was right. Ma was diagnosed with cancer. That psychic saved her life.”
“She was probably just a half rate healer pretending to be a psychic,” Sirius replied. As he thought more about it he added, "That would be a good con actually, if one wasn’t good enough to make it as a proper healer, but could still diagnose. You’d probably make more money as a psychic then."
"Not much of a con if the diagnosis is real," Amanda replied.
"Well they don't get what they asked for. Imagine it though,” he remarked as he pointed to each of them in turn. “You've got shingles, you've got scurvy, you've got..." he paused as his pointing took him to Amanda "the kissing disease." And with a big grin he pounced, embracing her in a passionate kiss.
With a laugh she playfully fought him off before giving in. When they broke apart, Billie was already walking away shaking his head. Amanda scoured their surroundings, and noted the nearby emptiness of crew and kids alike. They’d all disappeared quickly. Where was everybody?