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A flaming ship

The blazing ship entered the harbor. The water beneath it was ablaze with fire. Patricia stared and couldn’t believe her eyes. The whole harbor was on fire. And the fire was spreading through the water. And it looked as if the sea was on fire. And it was all the fault of a marvelous ship! Shining like the sun on the evening horizon, it immediately attracted her attention. But it brought fires and death.

«Look! Look!» The elves drinking in the coastal tavern murmured. «Its sides are shaped like dragon wings and its nose is a dragon’s head. And it shines like it’s covered in scales.»

«It feels like the masts and rigging are the dragon’s innards,» another elf joined the conversation. Together they were bouncing on the table and trying to get a better look at the dragon-like ship through the window. They didn’t even care that the tavern was about to burn down.

And Patricia was hurriedly packing her things into a bundle. That was the end of her work here. If she’d known the harbor town would burn down tonight, she wouldn’t have hired here at all. It’s better to run on land, or risk getting burned right into the sea. Good thing she hadn’t gotten on one of the barges crossing the canal this morning, and bad thing she hadn’t bought a stagecoach ticket to the capital.

«But at least the thing you’ve been dreaming of happened to you — you finally saw the dragon ship.»

The voice, of course, belonged to the fortune-teller from the rook, and he himself was already seated at an empty table. How suddenly he found himself in the tavern! And the fire on the wharf did not frighten him.

Patricia was frightened of this man. Was he a man at all? The long red hooded robe, embroidered with stars, could have belonged to a ghost or a wizard. The first time she had seen him, Patricia had mistaken him for a magician. The soothsayer sailed the boat toward the lagoon, and the lilies and lily pads sang to him in human voices. The oar of the rook rowed itself, it was made in the shape of a water serpent, and this serpent came to life. It certainly did not seem to her then, nor did it seem to her now, that a flame flared for a moment in the seer’s hands.

«Why does the dragon ship come to the ports?» She moved slowly toward the diviner’s table.

«It is to set everything on fire. That’s what dragons fly the skies for, and this one sails the seas. But its purpose is the same.»

«Is it real?» Everything she’d heard about the dragon ship was just legend. The reality surpassed them. «It can turn from a ship into a real dragon? You mean a living one?»

«It is a real dragon.»

«He’s just a ship,» Patricia fixed her red hair. It was the color of flame, too, but that wouldn’t help her escape. «What does he want?»

«You, apparently.»

She was confused. What did the soothsayer mean by that? The beer in the mug left by the regular who had fled at the sight of the fire suddenly sizzled and ignited under his fingers. What strange passes he makes with his hands. And his fingers are wearing expensive rings.

«Are we all going to burn?»

«Not all of us! There’s someone he’s sparing.»

«Who is he? Is it a dragon? Is it a ship?»

«He is the master of the ship!» The soothsayer corrected.

«A ship has a master?» Patricia turned around in surprise at the flaming sea. The impression was that the ship, repeating the outline of the dragon, really began to come to life and move the sides-wings. The toothy maw on the bow opened threateningly.

She wondered if the fire was coming from it. Or does the bottom of the ship ignite the water? What material is the ship made of that makes the water hot? The color of the material looks like wood, but it’s fireproof. So it’s not wood. Everything around the ship is on fire, even the water, but only orange sparks run along the sides and fenders. The arrival of the dragon ship is like an infernal firework display.

«Even the sea is aflame from this ship. It’s the apocalypse!» Patricia gasped.

She watched the orange hot waves crashing onto the shore, burning people, boats, and even the harbor taverns.

«The ship has no crew, no captain or helmsman, only a master,» the soothsayer tipped the rest of the beer onto the table. The orange puddle that spread on the wood took the shape of a mirror. Like a mirror, it reflected everything that was going on around it. And then it suddenly reflected what was not happening around.

«Sit down,» the soothsayer pointed to an empty chair. «There’s nowhere to run anyway. Before everything burns down, I’ll tell you where he came from. Or rather, I’ll show you!»

«Who is it? Is it the master of the ship? Is it the dragon?»

«The master is a dragon. He is only a real one.»

But then why does he need a ship? Patricia dared not ask any more questions. The orange puddle in front of her was filled with sparks. The port was burning, and the girl looked at the marvelous pictures flickering on the table like a mirror. The more she looked, the more it became clear to her.

Pirate

Patricia ran down the path of fire. It left burns on her body. She was running away from both the fire and the horrible truth the seer had shown her.

There was a swamp ahead. Even it was better than a solid wall of fire. At the sight of the mire, Patricia felt relief.

Wet hands clutched at her hem.

Oh, it’s the boggarts! Muddy green swamp fairies with beautiful faces and rotten teeth pulled their webbed hands toward the girl.

«Don’t get on board! You won’t get off it alive, unless you become a member of the crew. And only a magical creature can join the crew. You’re not a fairy. You can’t survive on board.»

«Thanks for the warning!»

But there’s still nowhere to go. Sparks of flame are following her.

«The dragon is looking for you!»

«I see it!»

«He kidnaps every girl who looks like his runaway wife, and you look just like her.»

«Is she a dragoness?»

What a surprise! The sparks are multiplying and keeping up. The only way to escape is into the sea. It’s no longer fiery here. The water in the bay is murky but cold.

The ship in the bay was full of magical creatures. Alas, Patricia only noticed this when she climbed up the cracked gangway.

«Look! She’s got fire kisses on her! The dragon didn’t burn her!» The eerie, hoarse voices of a whole company of fairy creatures came.

Patricia’s leg was stuck in a hole between the broken boards like a dog’s mouth. Blood trickled down her ankle. Patricia felt dizzy from the blood loss. It felt like the ship was drinking her blood. Isn’t that funny?

«Ah!» Someone shouted so loudly that the sound carried over the entire ship.

Patricia’s blood somehow ignited on the planks and immediately went out. The girl pulled her leg out of the trap with difficulty. The hole in the deck immediately disappeared. What the hell!

A team of creepy creatures was closing in around the girl. Patricia instinctively grabbed the first thing that came to hand. The rusty hilt suddenly shone with newness under her fingers, and the weapon soared into the air, threatening the infernal creatures. They backed away, even frightened. What a miracle! It turned out that Patricia had found a saber on board that turned out to be magical. It was throwing itself to chop down any human or goblin nearby, even the one who found it, but Patricia was able to hold it back.

«Now you are the owner of the saber, and we are your team,» The wounded goblin said. He was the most formidable and huge monster on board.

«And whose ship is this?» Patricia asked.

«It is nobody’s.»

«It sounds like it’s an independent living creature that drinks the blood of the unfortunate girls who boarded.»

She seemed to have hit the mark. The monsters looked at her with reverence, as if she were an all-knowing sorceress.

«The ship belongs to nobody, and so does this saber,» the goblin lowered his eyes guiltily. «So far, no one has been able to take it, but it has harmed everyone. The ship is also named after the saber.»

«You mean a saber?» Patricia was surprised.

«No, it is a bloodsucker.»

«That doesn’t sound nice.»

«Well, the ship isn’t going to a beauty contest, but to a pirate heist.»

«Since you have a handsome captain now, you’ll have a handsome name.»

The Wicked One is squirming.

«You should go back to land, pretty girl!»

«It is too late. I’m with you now. Whoever went aboard will never come back alive unless he’s your captain. That’s what the swamp women whisper.»

«Do you hear them? Swamp women! Oh, come on! You’re not a fairy yourself, are you?»

The fiends hopped around Patricia on the deck. Some claws even felt her back for wings.

«She is not a fairy!» A troll said disappointedly.

«Don’t worry! I’ll be a good captain.»

«I see, or you wouldn’t have the saber,» said the ugly duergar.

Fate is whimsical. She almost got burned by dragon fire, got on board with the wicked! But with a crew like this, you can get your revenge.

«Let’s go!» Patricia commanded.

«Where is it to?»

«Head for Opal.»

«Are we going to look for food for the ship?» The goblins became animated.

Did they say food, not profit? Did Patricia hear what they said?

«Does the ship feed on gold?» She asked.

«No, it feeds on the blood of captured men who have fallen into the water. There’s a reason it’s called a bloodsucker.»

«I would have called it «The Light», the name of my ship when I was a noble lady.

«And what are you now?»

They couldn’t tell whether she was a peasant or a lady by her dress. Patricia thought it unnecessary to explain her social status. She wasn’t sure she had retained her title and manners. She had been wanted as a rebel for a week now. To hide, she’d been stubbornly playing the role of a commoner.

«We will avenge my kin,» she said dryly.

«If you want to burn all of Opal, you’d better summon a dragon ship. He can do it in one swim,» said the clever trolls.

«He’ll burn us, too. We can do it ourselves!»

On the way, they captured a pirate ship and ate all the pirates. «The Bloodsucker» really did feed on people. Perhaps we shouldn’t have changed its name as it exactly matched the behavior of the bloodthirsty vampire ship. The ship couldn’t have been named more accurately. Its ropes, like living snakes, stretched out and caught game. The sails swirled cocoon around the captured humans, and for a moment the bloody stains on the sailcloth were visible. The deck greedily absorbed the blood, making sucking sounds. You don’t need to wash a deck like this, you just sprinkle blood on it and it’s clean. The stains are immediately absorbed.

Patricia cheered, realizing that luck had come to her in the form of a magical ship and its crew. No one could handle goblins, swamp elves, and trolls in battle. A crew of the unholy is just what you need to take revenge on powerful enemies.

Barrels of fire

Patricia covered her eyes and it seemed to her that the fire ship was floating towards her again and a serpent was forming from the fire and hissing:

«The dragon seeks you! The dragon wants you! Swim to him!»

Is it to fight him? Or is it to fall in love with him? The silhouette of the dragon ship stirred strange feelings. Her heart blazed, but her mind remained cold. Patricia realized that sailing towards the dragon ship meant certain death. Pirates should be more calculating. You should only attack those you can defeat. You also need to inspire respect among the crew so there’s no rebellion.

How to look more dashing? How about wrapping a black eye patch around one eye? That would be dashing, but not practical. The view is worse with a blindfold on. To fight with a saber, she needs to see both right and left.

Pirates without one eye or a wooden leg are cripples after all. What’s so dashing about them? Patricia still took a skein of cloth to bandage her knee or elbow as if they were shattered. It would give the impression that this wasn’t the first time she’d pirated.

Someone’s voice called out from the void:

«You are the dragon’s chosen one!»

What does it mean, the chosen one? The dragon wants to kidnap her and sacrifice her? So she has a saber to defend herself and a bloodthirsty ship that will suck the blood even out of the dragon if the dragon suddenly swooped down. But what is about the dragon ship? It can’t be handled that easily. And there’s the risk of burning. There’s no escape from the blazing sea. But she’s a captain at sea, and the water around the ship isn’t on fire yet.

Life has changed for the better. Not so long ago Patricia was serving drinks to pirates in a tavern, and now she is a pirate captain herself! Fortune had finally smiled on her. The dull everyday life was colored by pure magic. The saber hovered over the cabin, guarding Patricia’s sleep. In addition to goblins, trolls, and boggles, the crew even included swamp elves. They were tall and green-skinned. Patricia had only seen tiny elves before and naively thought they were all as small as pixies. The swamp elves turned out to be hulking men whose skin was sprouting slime and moss. The tavern elves tended to leprosy by climbing into beer mugs. Their size was perfect for such hiding. If they were discovered, they blew a whirlwind of magical beer bubbles in the drunkard’s face that would make him lose his mind and dance in the street all night. No one believed the complaints of the drunks in the morning. Many complained that they were enslaved by elves, not ale. Naturally, they were only mocked. It was until disaster struck.

One day some drunkard swallowed a beer elf, and his stomach swelled, sparks ran along his skin, and the elf laughed from his gut. Everyone thought he had a ventriloquist inside him. The poor guy lost his bearings and hit the iron hook with his belly. The freed elf flew out of the belly. The murder was blamed on the pirates.

Patricia remembered how the drunkard’s body hung on the hook like a meat carcass, while the mocking elves circled around the hook and cheered:

«How easy it is to fool people!» They chanted.

Now they were helping her to pirate. And she had thought that magic tricks were easy only with drunkards in the tavern.

The first ship they captured was a galley. There was nothing to eat. But the vampire ship did, both the ship’s owners and the galleys’ oarsmen. Its ropes and sails caught its victims in a cocoon and smeared them in a bloody stain. The blood would quickly disappear, soaking into the ship, and the sails would turn boiling white again. This was great, because sailing with bloody sails meant being under suspicion forever. You could tell a bloody ship belonged to pirates. The ship itself didn’t care, it was all about food. It easily accepted the presence of a captain, as long as the captain leads it on a voyage for game. But the crew lacked other values.

«We don’t see eye to eye with the ship,» Patricia sighed. «I want wine, spices, silks, and sharp Menuel’s weapons.»

Menuel had the best weapons, and Etar had the best silks and tastiest sweets, but the ships of opportunity were only warships, not merchant ships. Patricia’s blood-hungry crew easily boarded ships with heavy equipment. One captured ship had an unusual cargo — barrels of lead.

«What was in them?» Patricia polished her saber and watched as the goblins dragged the barrels to the deck from the sinking ship. «Is it gunpowder? Or is it mercury? Definitely not wine. The packaging is not typical of wine.»

«It is a fire wine,» one of the goblins replied.

«No, it isn’t! There is no such thing as a fire wine.»

Patricia opened one of the barrels and was astonished. Inside the barrel, liquid fire was bubbling.

«Is this really drinkable?»

«Yes, it is!» The big goblin snatched the barrel and took a big gulp, then snorted insolently.

«And you didn’t burn your throat?» Patricia wondered.

The goblin shook his horned head. Then he clawed at his stomach. His eyes bulged and turned orange, and sparks flickered across his fur. The goblin grinned contentedly. He was enjoying the effects of the fire wine.

«Do the others drink it too?»

The goblin nodded.

«Drunks,» Patricia muttered under her breath. The goblin took no offense. Everyone here liked fiery wine that burned the palate. And this was her team! All monsters! She didn’t know that before.

Patricia was getting discouraged. The other pirates had taken the treasure, and all they got were barrels of wine. In frustration, she stabbed one of the casks with her dagger.

«No, don’t tear them off!» The jumpy creature from the hold squeaked, but it was too late. An orange trickle flowed onto the deck.

«There’s fire in every barrel, not wine!» Patricia was indignant.

«It’s fire wine,» the Bogles grumbled resentfully. «Don’t you realize that this is the highest kind of wine?»

«And who drinks such wine? Are they suicides? Are they condemned to execution? It will burn your throat!»

«Dragons and dragons’ friends drink it,» replied the Bogles.

«But it will burn our ship. Hurry up and get buckets of water!»

Are there buckets on board? Patricia didn’t even know. But the flames on deck went out by themselves. Did the ship soak it up?

«Our house isn’t on fire,» the pixie flipped in the air.

«It is the ship, not the house!» Patricia corrected her.

«It doesn’t matter!» The pixies scattered and the goblins began to drink heavily.

Patricia stepped away from the horde of monsters. They were pouncing on the barrels of fiery liquor. The barrels didn’t even have corks. The goblins were smashing the lids with their paws to get to the contents.

«Hey, Captain! Look at me? Do I fit in with your crew?» A female voice squeaked from somewhere above.

Patricia looked around. There was no one around, except for the strange, stiff gargoyles on the sides. They looked like they were about to come to life. Could she have been approached by a ghost? There’s no sign of it, by the way. Are there invisible ghosts?

«How is about that?» The unfamiliar voice came from above again.

Patricia raised her head, holding her triangle with one hand. There was no one flying in the sky above the ship. So she couldn’t have been called from the sky.

«Look here!»

A beautiful gray head with pointed ears hung down. The eyes on the gray face glittered like amber. A thick cloak covered her narrow shoulders. The lady resembled a dunghill.

«Do you like hanging upside down?» Patricia asked puzzled.

«I do!» The lady shook her gray cape and appeared to be a huge bat. She jumped down gracefully and stood in front of Patricia, straightening up to her full height. Its head reached Patricia’s chin.

«How did you get here? Are you even a fairy or a bat?»

«I’m both, and I’m both, and I’m both.»

«What’s the third thing?»

«I’m a bat fairy, that’s the first two things, and the third, I’m a member of your team.»

«How come I didn’t notice you before?»

«Were you too busy enslaving the crew?»

Enslavement! What’s the word?

«I recruited them, not enslaved them.»

«Hmm,» the bat fairy squirmed incredulously.

«What are your talents?» Patricia looked her over from head to toe. Her feet were two paws with sharp claws that scratched the deck.

«Are they talents for what?»

«It is to fighting.»

«How warlike you are!» The gray fairy clucked her tongue.

«I need warriors.»

«The mermaids say that you can’t survive on the seas without strength,» the fairy sighed and showed her clawed feet. «I can tear anyone to shreds. In my claws the enemy is like in a meat grinder, but my main talent is in agility and in the ability to whistle a strong wind. My whistle, by the way, can make people deaf or insane. Would you like a demonstration?»

The bat-fairy put the claws of her little fingers in her mouth and prepared to whistle.

«No, you don’t,» Patricia interrupted her. «It’s better to introduce yourself. What’s your name?»

«Nethopurina.»

«You’re from a race of celestials?»

Nethopyrina shifted her triangular eyebrows in puzzlement.

«I’m from the bat fairy caste.»

«Okay, it’s not about bloodline. So, Lady Netopyrina…»

«I haven’t been called Lady since King Opal threw me out of the castle in disgrace.»

«What did you do to him?» Patricia immediately felt good about the fairy.

«I drank the blood of the wrong lady to be executed.»

«And he threw you out for such a small thing? He loves fairies, peri, divas, and especially the night fairies, the blood-drinking fairies.»

«But it is not me. I was out of place.»

«So was I.»

«You ran away. No one threw you out,» Nethopyrina scrutinized Patricia. «I see your line of fate. By the way, you’re being chased.»

«Is it from Opal?»

«No, it is from somewhere else.»

«I haven’t made any more enemies anywhere else.»

Is Nethopyrina a clairvoyant? She’s a little vague in her predictions. More like a fraudulent fortune-teller from Opal Square. King Opal had a good eye. He knew how to tell the real sorcerers from the charlatans.

Patricia remembered the feast hall at Opal’s castle, the poison glasses lined up between the food, the dishes of meat and blood, and the snide laughter of the peri community. Peri are the female variety of evil genies. Outwardly they are beauties, inwardly they are demons. The King of Opal released them from some ancient candlestick, and all of Opal turned into hell.

Patricia remembered sitting at the feast table between giggling peri, and on the platter in front of her was meat left over from the cut corpse of her uncle who had rioted against the king. It was best not to clash with a king who had subjugated an unclean force. But the fateful step had been taken, nothing could be undone.

«The King of Opal wanted to give you up to the dragon,» Netopyrina determined.

«I’ve surrendered to the dragon!» Patricia kicked a barrel of fire wine that had been forgotten on the side of the ship. The packaging was faulty. The fiery liquor ran down the deck. It’s going to burn!

The puddle of fire suddenly turned green and turned into a swamp. How did this happen?

«Is there room for me?» A green hand rested on the side.

Had one of the swamp women crawled in? Patricia didn’t think she’d ever see one of them again.

«The dragon burned my swamp as soon as you left,» she explained, climbing up onto the deck on the smooth side. «So I choose to travel in your company. It’s safer with you.»

«Staying close to me is like sailing on a pirate ship.»

«Well, then I want to join your crew. Who says a swamp fairy can’t be a pirate?»

«Can you fight?»

«I can be useful,» the swamp fairy pointed to the green trail of slime that followed her through the water.

«It is mud,» Patricia said.

«And what is about this one?» Her wing stretched out and touched the water behind the deck. The waves immediately became mire. «I can turn the ground beneath your enemies’ feet or the water beneath their ship into mire.»

Patricia whistled. That’s even better than strength. The Swamp Lady knows how to be useful.

«You better learn to fight with a saber, too.»

«I’ll try, but it’s unnecessary. I don’t need a saber when I have claws.»

A swamp fairy could cut a human throat with them. Patricia turned away.

«I am Zeligena,» the swamp fairy introduced herself.

«Isn’t that the name of a whole race of fairies with goat hooves under their green dresses?» Patricia wondered. She had met such fairies at Opal’s court.

«Maybe so, but in this case it’s a name, it is not a nationality.»

It wouldn’t have occurred to Patricia to say that fairies were divided into races and nationalities.

«All right, stay, Zeligena. Let’s hope you’re not a spy.»

«What do you mean?» Zeligena snorted insolently. «I’m an honest swamp dweller who was defeated by a dragon.»

«I’m angry with him myself,» Patricia noticed a metal tube on the side of the boat. It looked like a spyglass, but it was fancy.

«It is a morgen spyglass!» Netopyrina was surprised. «It must have been left here by the sea people. Or maybe it’s a gift?»

«You can see the Undersea Kingdom through it,» Zeligenna interjected. «Let me see!»

But Patricia had already looked through the peephole herself and was surprised. The tube showed not the water and the horizon, but the walls of a palace of shells and pyramids of pearls.

«It is beautiful!» Patricia exhaled.

«What? What did you see?» Nethopyrina and Zeligena began to snatch the telescope from her.

«Calm down! I’m the captain, not you insolent fairies!»

What do fairies do? They wrestled the telescope from her just as the handsome triton appeared in it. Patricia wanted to look at him again. She wanted to bare her saber to wrestle the telescope away, but the water suddenly smelled foul. Had the dragon struck again?

Patricia glanced at the waves and exhaled in exasperation. Burnt bodies floated in the water, only not human. Maidens with fish tails burned to the color of ash. They were dead mermaids! They turned their faces to the sky like dead fish lying belly up. Slender bodies burned partially or to the bone. The bones, scorched by the fire, were coal-black.

«The dragon burned them! They were burned alive!» One mermaid in the dead pack was almost intact. Only her tail was burned. The blue scales on it were inflamed. But her shoulders, arms, and delightful face were not burned. Over her blue hair, the mermaid wore a kind of crown with pendants of pearls. Her scales were spliced on her stomach and breasts, forming a fancy corset.

Several more lovely mermaids floated out beside her.

«The heavenly fire has passed us by, but we’ve all got burns,» they complained in unison. «Do something!»

«But what can I do?» Patricia was shocked by their plea for help. It was the mermaids who could sink her ship. Everyone knows they’re sea sorceresses, able to conjure up a storm with their singing. Maybe they’re messing with her. Testing her for strength and wit?

«The dragon is looking for you,» said the mermaid with the crown in her hair. «He is so angry that he burns even sea creatures. This never happened before. It was safe underwater. If we don’t turn you over to him, he’ll burn the whole sea kingdom.»

«Is it one dragon?» Patricia was surprised.

«It is a special dragon!»

«You are the princesses of the sea,» Patricia noticed the thin coral crowns on the heads of the other mermaids.

«We won’t give you away,» the blue-haired mermaid slid her webbed hand around Patricia’s wrist. «It’s still you, isn’t it? We owe you a debt.»

It’s still her! Yes, though it’s hard to believe, it’s still her — Lady Patricia, the disgraced and outlawed Lady Patricia. But how do the mermaids know her?

«Did the King of Opal send you?»

If he’s in charge of peri and genies, he can handle mermaids too. A logical conclusion! But the mermaid was surprised.

«We don’t know him.»

«How do you know me?»

«Are you playing games with us again? You need to hide from the dragon, not from us,» said the mermaid, waving her webbed hand, in which large pearls sprouted like rings.

«I know,» Patricia shuddered at the memory of the burning waves, but now she had fire wine on the deck herself, and the crew of monsters drank it happily. The goblins have even begun to yell drunken songs. The shy mermaids were embarrassed.

«What a company you have now!»

Is this really a reprimand! Mermaids are princesses, they can’t hear pirate language.

«I will bring discipline on board,» Patricia promised, though she didn’t think it was possible.

«Don’t overdo the magic, or everyone will fall asleep. When you sing, even dragons fall asleep, so don’t sing any more magic songs and don’t overdo it,» the mermaid waved her tail and disappeared into the waves.

Or else she has magic! What a joke!

«See you later, my lady!» came from the waves.

Patricia was discouraged. The mermaids had mistaken her for someone else. And she had unwittingly played along. Playing with mermaids is dangerous. Once the deception is exposed, they’ll come back and sink the whole ship. If they find their mistress, they’ll realize Patricia’s a liar.

«What a mess we’ve gotten ourselves into! It is all because of the King of Opal and his insolent peri!»

The goblin nodded at her, though he didn’t know what she was talking about.

The phoenix flashed with sparks. So there was a ship on the horizon. Patricia snatched the spyglass from the gawking Netopyrina. It still showed only the sea: tritons, sirens and an underwater palace.

«No kidding! Show me the horizon!»

The telescope reluctantly obeyed, showing the sea hundreds of leagues ahead.

«Closer! A couple leagues away!»

Someone snorted inside the tube like a capricious evil spirit, but obeyed anyway.

«You really are the Lord of the Wicked if they obey you like that,» said the bat fairy.

«Who do you mean?»

«They are the spirits of the waters.»

Patricia swallowed her objections. The gray fairy would not call out that she had been confused with someone else. She mustn’t ruin her credibility as captain of the undead. She had an excellent reputation on board so far.

«It is the King of Opal’s fleet!» Patricia saw the flag through her telescope. «Well, I’m going to settle accounts with everyone! Prepare! We’re going to fight!»

A sea battle

Trolls, as it turned out, could jump from ship to ship. They didn’t even need boarding hooks. The trolls pushed off the sides of the ship with their spread paws. They clawed at their opponents with all their claws and fangs. Each goblin could handle a whole group of opponents at once. The gargoyles from the boards came to life and threw themselves into the battle against other people’s ships. Lean boggles clawed at their opponents’ legs and shattered their bones. They killed or maimed many. And still the King of Opal’s fleet won the battle.

«What we have to do?» Patricia thought frantically. «Shouldn’t you use bat magic?»

«That’s dangerous!» The mongrel clawed at the board, and wood shavings flew off of it.

«I know it’s dangerous!»

The swamp fairy was already using her unpretentious swamp magic, trying to turn the sea waves beneath the Opal ships into mire. Her magical powers didn’t last much longer. The water turned green, but the sea did not turn to mire.

A fiery ship would have turned the entire sea into flames in no time. Only in that case, Patricia’s ship would burn too.

The thin mire from the swamp fairy was not enough to swamp other people’s ships.

«All the other swamp fairies from my swamp were burned by the dragon, otherwise we’d be dragging all the ships into the mire right now,» the destitute fairy sighed.

Patricia saw the situation differently. If he hadn’t burned them all, not even one swamp fairy would have come to her.

«If we lose, I’ll drown myself, but I won’t go back to Opal!» Patricia was already regretting getting into a fight. It was better to ask one of the fairies or mermaids to summon the mist. Under the veil of mist, the ship could pass by the fleet and go unnoticed.

«It would be better to ask the mermaids for an elixir to breathe underwater,» Netopyrina said judiciously.

«Is there such an elixir?»

«Mermaids have all sorts of wonders in store. I don’t even know about many of them. Mermaids will gladly give you an elixir.»

«Why would they?»

«They’re very fond of you.»

Patricia barely dodged a sword wielded by one of the taller goblins. The sword slipped out of her hands and began slashing at the crew of the alien ship closest to the Bloodsucker.

«While you’re thinking, your sword will become a warrior in your place,» she joked.

«Fly back to me!» Patricia commanded, but the sword wouldn’t obey her. Maybe it’s a good thing. It’s more useful in battle. If he wants to fight, let him fight. It’s even more convenient for her. She can save her own energy.

Patricia’s crew only managed to sink a couple of Opal’s ships, and there are dozens more. What kind of valuable cargo are they carrying? The King of Opal probably sent them to war. Their equipment is just perfect for war.

Patricia noticed a magical creature aboard the flagship. It’s probably the reason they can’t use magic to win a battle. Everyone knows how powerful wizard’s work for the King of Opal. The graceful peri in her oriental garb resembled a piece of jewelry rather than a warrior. The wings behind her slender back seemed to be made of multicolored mist. Precious pendants hung from her belt and jingled with every movement, like a dancer’s. Among these pendants were vials containing poison. Surely Patricia knew of Peri’s cunning.

Peri noticed it too and grinned slyly. Patricia would give anything to capture the ethereal creature and teach it a lesson. Is it possible to kill a peri? They’re supposed to be immortal.

The peri walked along the side of the boat, then flew over the deck where the fight was going on. What was she up to?

«There’s another fairy on board besides her,» Netopyrina determined. «She is the one blocking the magic of our ship.»

«Is it just one fairy?»

«We have to get her,» Netopyrina showed her sharp claws. «I’ll interrogate her.»

«We don’t need prisoners. The ship feeds only on the blood of the slain.»

«The only way to capture a magical creature is to take it prisoner, and the ship will be spared.»

«How do we not get captured? Am I seeing double, or is Opal’s fleet multiplying?»

Patricia couldn’t tell if it was magic or optical trickery. Or maybe the black ships growing behind the fleet were ghost ships?

Suddenly, multicolored fins flashed in the water between the ships, and a hypnotizing singing sounded. The mermaids had come to help. If it weren’t for them, Opal’s fleet could not have been sunk. The tailed maidens proved to be aggressive and powerful. They summoned a kraken that encircled the Opal’s ships with all its tentacles. The cocky peri’s face stretched in disappointment. This was a turn of events she had not expected. She herself had barely managed to escape the kraken’s tentacles, and that was only because she could fly.

«As long as you’re on the water, you’re lucky,» the flying peri grinned predatorily. «And what will be not on the water?»

The mermaids were triumphant. Their whole flock swirled around the drowning shipwrecks on the water.

«All the valuables that you have not managed to drag on board, we get!» The mermaid in the most bizarre crown made the stipulation. She is probably the leader of the mermaid pack.

Patricia nodded in agreement. Her sword returned to her. It was a good thing it could fly like a steel bird. The sword had drunk so much blood that it would not fight again. The gargoyles, too, had turned back into fancy brass ornaments on the sides, but if there was a battle again, they would come to life again and rush into battle.

Peri had long since flown away, and the trail of iridescent mist left by her wings still hung over the sea. She would report what had happened to the King of Opal. Well, good! Let him know of the avenger who had recruited a team of foulness, and tremble. They’re equals now. Patricia is no longer a weak little pussycat, but a pirate.

Her monstrous crew was hauling barrels and chests from the sinking flagship. The mermaids were writhing in displeasure.

«All the riches that have sunk are rightfully theirs,» Netopyrina explained. «That is the law of the sea. What sank went to the treasury of the sea king or the sea queens. In this case, they are the Princesses.»

«I thought they were princesses.»

«Do you tell by the crowns?» Netopyrina grinned.

«Well, yes. And you need to determine by the color of the mermaid’s tail?»

«Be quiet, or they will take offense and make a storm to flood us.»

«Why on earth would they want to help me? I didn’t even call them,» Patricia marveled.

«They probably don’t like the King of Opal either. Ever since the dragon burned one of the sea queens, they can’t stand all strong wizards.»

«Is the dragon a strong wizard?»

«Dragons are prone to greed and to magic,» Nethopyrina weighed on her clawed palm a gold coin that had rolled out of a chest brought aboard by a goblin.

Patricia breathed in a full breath of fresh sea air. This is a triumph! She had won! How gratifying is it to watch the goblins working as porters and the sinking ships of the enemy.

Patricia felt very lucky until one goblin hefted a sack glistening from within onto a pile of barrels and chests. Was there really fire in the sack? Or is it a firebird?

«Oh, they have taken a prisoner!» The delighted Netopyrina flapped her wings joyfully.

The bag shone brighter and vibrated.

«The captive fairy is trying to free herself,» said the bog lady.

«Is there really a fairy in the bag?»

«Apparently, there was no cage on the Opal’s ships, so they put her in the sack.»

«Can’t we throw her overboard?»

«It won’t sink.»

«Then what are we going to do with her?» Patricia was as frightened of the fairy as death itself. She knew what fairies were capable of when they served to the King of Opal. If we don’t get rid of the sack, the fairy will enslave the entire crew. She must have a talent for mass hypnosis and could mesmerize the whole crew for a while, fly up behind the wheel of the ship and drive it straight to her employer — the king. And thus all the dashing pirates will be captured by the magician. They could be collected from the deck while still sleepy and taken to the dungeons.

«Interrogate her,» advised Netopyrina. The crew was also waiting for orders.

Patricia did not want to talk to the cunning fairy from Opal, but there was nowhere to go.

A fairy hostage

There was no worse trophy than a fairy. She sang and summoned spells. She had to gag her. The dunghill weaved a cage of gray charms. They’re stronger than iron bars.

Patricia knew that the fairy was an agent of the King of Opal and could contact him from a distance, but Netopyrina blocked her. How useful it is to have a fairy bat of your own!

The captive fairy, on the other hand, was a massive inconvenience. Everything shook and rang near her, and objects flew in the air.

«Stop it! You won’t get free,» Patricia shouted at her.

The fairy gave her a sinister smile that made her blood run cold. The dagger, forgotten by someone, flew into the air and swooped down on Patricia like a bird of steel.

While Patricia fought back, the fairy managed to summon a storm. The ship rocked from side to side.

There was no end to the captive fairy’s mischief. The sharp objects began to attack, the ropes twisted into loops and tried to kill the whole crew, and compasses, maps, and telescopes were dancing in the air. This continued until Zeligena and Netopyrina conspired and began to block the fairy together.

That’s when the captive beauty felt a severe headache. Her iridescent eyes blurred. The large spotted wings that made her look like a butterfly sagged.

«Take her into the hold with the cage and lock her in there,» Netopyrina ordered.

Patricia ignored the fact that the assistant had taken over as captain. To save herself from the fairy’s antics, she could give the ship’s command to the devil for a while.

«Wouldn’t it be better to throw her overboard?» Patricia asked hesitantly.

«She could start a mutiny in the Underwater Kingdom. That would be undiplomatic. The mermaids would remember such evil.»

«Is it evil to give someone a captured fairy?»

«It depends on what kind of fairy is she,» Netopyrina watched carefully as the goblins brought the prisoner into the hold. «A fairy is a valuable hostage if you want to blackmail the King of Opal.»

«The loss of one fairy won’t make him too angry. He has dozens of them.»

«Isn’t he violating the rights of the magic emperor?» Zeligena intervened. «It seems that only the lord of the Magic Empire has the right to command fairies.»

«I’ve never heard of such a thing,» Patricia admitted.

Both Zeligena and Netopyrina looked at her strangely.

«Well, I wouldn’t dare denounce him anyway,» Zeligena grumbled, «the swamp fairies don’t have a good relationship with him. He’s become very bitter in the last centuries. In confidence, his wife left him. Wives are always leaving him.»

«Did he have many?»

«How do you say?» Zeligena flapped her green eyelashes nervously.

«And the King of Opal killed his wife himself — sacrificed her during a sorcery ritual. I saw it, so I refused to become his next wife.»

Oops! Patricia faltered when she realized she had spoken. She had sworn to several black fairy vampires guarding the royal crypt that she would not tell anyone about Queen Esperanza’s skeleton that sometimes moved in the niche. The skeleton is wearing a royal dress and jewelry. Underneath the skeleton’s skull, there is still a lingering intelligence.

Now the grave fairies will punish her by taking her life. They are capable of taking lives from a distance. Patricia waited for a minute. Her throat didn’t constrict, her breath didn’t cut off. Her heart didn’t stop beating. Did the grave fairies have no power over her? Could it be the magic ship? The crypt fairies can’t affect someone in a vacuum of alien magic?

«The fairy is a valuable hostage,» Netopyrina repeated. «If you manage to get her on your side, she will reveal to you your enemy’s weaknesses.»

«It’s impossible to get these creatures on your side!»

«But the King of Opal somehow did. They served another ruler before him.»

Patricia had no idea, though the court fairies themselves sometimes hinted at it. The fairies in Opal’s court always spoke in riddles. They surrounded the courtiers, hovering over their heads and tormenting them with eerie conversations. There was no escape from the fairies in Opal, for there were more fairies than people.

Patricia wondered if she should abandon her plans for revenge. The sight of the Opal fairy was so unpleasant that she wanted to forget about Opal.

«In a couple of hours, the ship’s magic will disarm the hostage and you can go down to the hold to question her,» Netopyrina advised.

Patricia tried to delay the unpleasant meeting with the fairy for three to four hours. She really didn’t want to talk to the winged pest. Fairies can hypnotize. One look into her eyes and you’re gone. If the crew on the ship did not consist of magical creatures, the fairy long ago would have charmed everyone and would have taken command of the crew of lunatics, subject to her will.

«It’s about time!» Netopyrina urged. She didn’t even need a watch to tell the time. As night approached, she felt a surge of strength, but during the day she grew weaker. Apparently, her mouse nature had its own clockwork mechanism.

«Come on, let’s wait a little longer. Let her calm down,» Patricia paced the deck and played with her saber. Swinging a saber was a familiar and simple matter, but dealing with the fairies of Opal was complicated politics. Politics gave Patricia a headache. She didn’t know how to negotiate. The last time the King of Opal had negotiated with her, it had turned into a massacre and tragedy. Now Patricia was ashamed to even remember how she had run away from her native shores on a small boat ruled by a dwarf.

«It was a pity that one could not live by physical strength alone, one needed magic and politics. Otherwise the art of swordsmanship would be enough for me…» Patricia did not find support from the two fairies. They respected magic more than martial arts.

Well, to hell with them. Fairies have their own mentality. It was time to interrogate the hostage. Zeligena, Netopyrina, and a few goblins descended into the hold with Patricia.

Instead of a lantern, there was a perch with a sleeping firebird at the entrance to the hold. Zeligena had found a real glass lantern somewhere, with a firefly inside instead of a candle.

«We must ask the firebird not to fly close to the barrels of fire wine, or the whole ship will explode,» Patricia thought.

«It won’t explode, but the firebird will get drunk,» objected the more experienced Zeligena.

Well, if so…

«Where I am?» Patricia looked at the caged fairy, who had already managed to spit out her gag. The ropes used to bind her wrists and ankles were set on fire by the fairy using a spell. She muttered incoherent words to herself, and the ropes caught fire. The fire did not burn the fairy’s own skin.

«Oh, here we are!» The fairy laughed wickedly, and the sharp pins from the walls darted at Patricia. Patricia was barely able to dodge them. Then the barrels started dancing. Dozens of them rose into the air and began to circle in a circle.

There’s fire wine in them! If it spills, it’s the end of everyone.

«Stop it!» Patricia demanded.

«What can you do?» The fairy grinned. «You lost your authority as our ruler a long time ago.»

«I never was. If you remember, the King of Opal didn’t have time to make me his next queen.»

«I didn’t see that,» said the captive fairy defiantly. She tried to break the bars of the cage and failed. The gray bars of enchantment looked fragile, but they were strong.

Patricia looked closely at the fairy’s face, which was covered with a light web of sequins. They made the fairy appear starry-eyed, only her iridescent eyes giving away that she was of the Nightwalker caste.

Indeed, this fairy was not present at the dinner where Patricia had dared to accept from the king a gift of a black ring, which made all the wearers sick with the black plague.

The fairy hostage had a typical heart-shaped face.

«Are you Riabella? Flotel? Alyssandra?» Patricia couldn’t recognize her, but she knew not all the court fairies by name.

«Aleandra,» the fairy corrected, and smiled predatorily again. The teeth beneath her graceful mouth were sharp as needles. It was as if she had a mouth full of needles. You wouldn’t envy whoever she bit.

Netopyrina was giving signs that it was time to begin the interrogation, or the captive would gain strength. While the fairy was distracted by the negotiations, the flying wine barrels were slowly falling back down. The fairy didn’t have enough concentration to do everything at once. She must have been exhausted as she tried to break free from her captivity.

«Where was the fleet headed?» Patricia began to question her.

«Why do you want to know?» Aleandra was wary.

«It is curious.»

«It wasn’t sent for you,» the fairy grinned as if her words were a lie.

«Then who was it sent for?»

«The fleet might have sailed with good intentions.»

«Armed to the teeth?»

«Well, in these times, security is not unreasonable,» the fairy said sullenly. «There’s a war going on. It’s everywhere. Only people don’t know about it. The Emperor and Empress of the Magic Empire are sharing power. Who’s who?»

«What does the King of Opal have to do with this?»

«Ask me what fairies have to do with it?»

«Don’t tease me!» Patricia swung her saber in retaliation.

The fairy just laughed insolently. The floor of the hold shook and the glass in the lantern burst. The firefly broke free and flew away.

«Your outfit is strange,» Aleandra gave Patricia an unpleasant look, «as if you were a gypsy or a beggar.»

«I am not a gypsy, but a pirate captain.»

«What kind of lady would degrade herself to a man’s profession?»

Patricia felt herself covered in mud under the fairy’s gaze. Fairies are such schemers! One word from them would turn any fame into shame.

«It suits me,» Patricia cut her off.

«You could have been queen.»

«One night of ritual and the next morning you are a skeleton in a crown.»

«At least I wouldn’t have to swing a saber. You could stand in a niche like a palace ornament. The grave fairies would serve you well. I think they recognize you for letting you go. I recognize you too.»

The fairy smiled greedily, as if she had met an old rival who was about to be torn apart.

«And the dragon will come for you!»

Patricia didn’t know what she’d done to the dragon. Maybe she had stolen some magical thing that the dragon had left unattended on the coast or in the mountains. Patricia saw strange marks burned into the sand. They had definitely been left by the dragon’s breath. Maybe she shouldn’t have touched the burned sand. She could have broken some dragon spell by scooping up a handful of that sand.

Patricia remembered the strange sounds that had been heard on the coast then. If only she could apologize to the dragon for intruding on his magic then.

«He can smell you in any guise,» the fairy cheered. «You can’t hide from him. Masks won’t help.»

By any guise, she must have meant a bandit’s clothes. Patricia dusted off the lapels of a smart camisole that the goblins had taken off the corpse of the captain of an enemy ship and presented to her.

«Fairies are nothing but trouble!» Patricia muttered.

She must have insulted Zeligena and Netopyrina, because they hissed nervously. You have to be careful what you say when you’re surrounded by evil spirits.

«Or maybe he’ll come,» Patricia decided to mock the evil fairy. «I saw a dragon ship.»

«You saw it?» Aleandra was interested. «Where it was?»

«I won’t tell you.»

«You are a liar! You haven’t seen it, or you’d be burned.»

«And if we meet it now, we’ll burn.»

«Yes,» nodded the fairy in the cage.

«Is it everyone? Is it even you?»

«Uh-huh. You can’t fly away from him. The whole sea will burst into flames. The waves would surge to the heavens, burning anyone who tried to fly away.»

«Is he a living dragon or is it a ship?»

«It is both.»

«How is it so? I’ve never seen it fly. Its bottom always touches the water and the water beneath it catches fire.»

«He’ll either burn up all the seas or find one that hides from him. He probably thinks she is in the Underwater Kingdom, so he ruins the water. Before, fire falls only existed in Tioria, but with the advent of the dragon ship, entire seas become fiery.»

«I saw it myself.»

You have only seen it so far, and then you’ll burn,» the fairy giggled insolently. «You’ll get your ass kicked.»

She probably intended to get free and fly away somehow.

«Keep an eye on her!» Patricia told the goblins.

Her own mind suddenly went blank. There was no need to look into the fairy’s hypnotizing eyes. Patricia staggered out of the hold and into the fresh air. She was about to faint like a sourpuss. And she’s a pirate captain. It’s a shame she’s staggering around like a drunk. That’s the worst thing you can do when you’re dealing with an insolent fairy.

There was no flaming ship on the horizon, but a clear picture suddenly appeared in her mind: the silhouette of a slender aristocrat coming out of the fire and treading on the water, leaving fiery footprints. It’s a young man. He would be very handsome if he were not entirely made of flames. He reaches out to her and wants to say something to her, and the picture fades.

Patricia woke up from her reverie. There was a burn on her elbow, as if someone had really just touched her with fire.

A fiery stranger

As soon as she fell asleep, she dreamed of the fiery young man again. He was treading on the water, and the water under his soles became fiery. There was a solid bonfire in the sea. The young man looked at Patricia with orange eyes fused from the fire. Behind his back fluttered a fiery cloak. What was the cloak! His eyebrows, eyelashes, hair, skin — everything was composed of fire.

The stranger made some signs to her, and symbols of sparks lit up in the air. Patricia managed to read:

«It is an escape! It is treason! It is a change of essence! It is an empty crown! It is the absence of a queen! It is the eternal search! It is an a