Part 2
“I’m telling you, there’s something weird about her.” Robson said to another man.
“What, the passenger who boarded just before we left? The young lady?” The man asked. “You said she paid an entire pound for passage. That’s overpriced, but not weird.”
“She knew my name before I even told her. Plus, have you even looked at her?” Robson continued.
“What do you mean? She that pretty?” Another man asked with a laugh. “Come on Robson, what are you so paranoid about?”
“I’m honestly not sure. But she gives me a real bad feeling.” Robson admitted, leaning back in his chair in the cabin. “It’s like there’s waves of heat coming off her. The air around her shimmers like a dwarven desert.”
Unseen to the men in the cabin, one of Vordea’s tentacles stayed in the shadows, showing her the conversation taking place within. She couldn’t help but laugh, as she lounged above deck as the night air whistled past her.
“Robson is a clever man. Cleverer than I gave him credit for.” Vordea said out loud, knowing she was the only person on the deck this late.
Below deck, Robson hushed them as he heard her laughter. They barely made out what she said, but it was enough. They looked around uneasily.
“Who is she?” One of the men eventually asked.
“Let’s just... not make her angry.” Robson said after some silence. “She put her faith in us.”
Before Robson could continue, the door opened suddenly. It was one of the lookouts, and he looked scared, almost frightened. “Captain, sea serpents!”
The cabin burst into a commotion. Sea serpents this far south was almost unheard of, they preferred the ice cold waters of Northern Karand.
“You’re certain, sailor?” The Captain asked. “Not a whale?”
“Captain I saw its head. They’re following us.” The lookout replied, starting to shake.
“How many?” Robson interjected.
“At least 4.” The lookout said, sinking to his knees on the floor. “We’re all going to die, aren’t we?”
The Captain and Robson looked at each other. They both knew what sea serpents did to ships. They considered them trespassers and tore them apart, and that’s if you were lucky. The unlucky were dragged down to the depths of the icy deep, to become food for the horrors of the dark depths.
“How far are we from shore right now?” Robson finally asked.
“At least an hour at top speed.”
The grim mood was interrupted by Vordea arriving at the cabin door with a knock, stepping over the lookout.
“Sea serpents? Is that what you’re so worked up over?” she asked, walking around the table. “Robson, did you know in Elvish, sea serpents are known as ‘Vordea’s Children’? I’ll take care of your little sea serpent problem in the morning.”
“We don’t have until morning you idiot!” A man at the table yelled. “They could attack us at any moment!”
Vordea narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Such a forceful choice of words. They’re following this ship because they’re interested in it. Lookout, how far away were they?”
“At least 5 ship lengths. But their heads were completely above the water, like they do right before they sink ships.” The lookout replied, looking at Vordea.
“Very well. Since none of you look like you’d get any sleep anyway, let’s go. Follow me.” Vordea said, carefully stepping over the lookout and heading for the stairs.
The men in the cabin looked around at each other, before rushing to get out of the cabin, the poor lookout getting stepped on multiple times as multiple people trampled him.
On deck, Vordea made her way to the starboard side of the ship, and leaned over, spotting the sea serpents. She beckoned to them and slapped the railing of the ship, as if calling over a dog. To the horror of the crew, the sea serpents seemed excited by this and drew closer.
“Lady what are you doing!” One of the men shouted.
Vordea didn’t respond to the question, instead focusing on the sea serpents. The serpents came alongside the ship, matching speed with it. One by one, they came up and nuzzled Vordea, one of them even licking her, as Vordea cooed and called them by name, petting them gently on their faces. With a kiss on the nose to each of them, she waved them off, and they sunk beneath the waves with no trace they were ever there. When she turned around, she smiled a broad smile at the crew.
“I suppose there are questions. Let’s save them for morning, no?” she said, laying down on the deck. “Besides, I’m tired now.”
“You’re going to sleep out here? You paid for a cabin, you know.” Robson asked, approaching her.
“Sleep? Oh, I don’t sleep. I’m just going to rest.” Vordea said, her body shimmering as she drifted out of reality. “I’ll speak with you all in the morning, rest assured.”