Dragon Guardian: Water

The world was slowly rocking.

Marin slowly awoke with a groan and tried to move a hand to rub away the throbbing ache between her eyes. However, upon finding her hands to be bound behind her back by heavy manacles, her eyes widened in panic and her heart slammed in her chest as she tried to free herself. Unable to get the right amount of leverage because she was lying on her side, she ceased in her struggles for a moment in order to take in her surroundings.

She was in a cage within a dimly-lit room. It was not a particularly big cage. She would not be able to stand, but there was more than enough room for Marin to sit or even kneel if she could get enough momentum or leverage that would allow for her to get off her side. Allowing herself to fall onto her back, Marin used her elbows to prop herself up before hooking her feet through the bars of the cage and using the leverage to pull herself up into a seated position with a small grunt. Freeing her feet, she cast her gaze about the room.

The walls and the floor were made of wood instead of rock, which meant she was not underground. The pounding of her heart slowed just a bit in relief when she realized she was not in fact in Umbra. But then where was she? Why did Marin feel as though she were in a rocking chair? That was when Marin noticed the potent smell of salt air, and if she listened closely, she could hear water.

The ocean!

Marin was at sea!

Her eyes widened again, and she screamed in aggravation as the memory of her attack flashed through her mind. How could she have been so careless? In the wake of being attacked by mercenaries, she had thrown caution to the wind and wandered away from the safety of the Keep and its guards, and for what? Flowers? Screaming again, Marin kicked at the bars of her cage and seethed—furious at herself for her blunder. However, when the sound of footsteps reached her ears, she stilled.

"Awake at last, are ye, lass?" a male voice drawled from a far corner of the room. At length, the owner--a swarthy man with greasy hair and a large beard--emerged from the shadows. "Was beginning to think we'd have to throw ye to the briny deep because the lads gave ye too much of the sleeping draft."

Not once removing her gaze from the thick, stocky man, Marin shifted onto her knees. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"Ah, yes...where are my manners? Captain Brenyr at your service," the man said with a flourishing bow. "You are aboard my ship, the Ravager."

"Captain Brenyr...whatever Nahga promised you as payment, I can give you my word that she won't hold up her end of the bargain," she said in as calm a voice as she could muster.

Brenyr tilted his head to the side. "Who is this Nahga you speak of?"

"Queen of the dark elves of Primordya," Marin replied. "Do you not make a point of knowing who you're working for?"

"I work for myself, lass," Brenyr replied simply as he leaned against the wall. "Now then...why would so lofty a person be troubling herself over the likes of ye?"

Marin blinked. "You're not working for Nahga?" she asked in confusion. "Then why have you taken me prisoner?"

"I'm a slaver, lass," Brenyr replied with a leer. "Just when I thought my crew's visit to Sapphirus would've been a complete flop this time because of all those extra precautions that blasted codger of a king has taken against me, you dropped into our laps...and I know people who would be willing to pay a pretty penny for the likes of ye...pretty, elven lass who can do magic...oh, yes. Quite the trove of gold will be filling my pockets by the time ye have been sold." He tilted his head to the side and stroked his large, black beard. "Of course...if a queen is trying to get her hands on ye, I'm thinking that ye might be worth a great deal more than I originally anticipated."

Marin clenched her jaw but remained silent—uncertain as to whether revealing her identity would help her or hinder her further.

"Who ye are wouldn't happen to have anything to do with these lovely trinkets we lifted from yer person, now...would they lass?" Brenyr asked while lifting none other than Shadowbane in his hand.

It was at that moment that Marin noticed that her medallion was now glittering upon Brenyr's nest of black, chest hair; and while she could not see her hands, she noticed that the familiar weight of her mother's ring was gone from her finger. She narrowed her eyes. "You have one chance, slaver," she hissed. "Give me my belongings back. Give them back to me right now."

"So they are yours, are they?" Brenyr drawled. "Thought they might be." He smiled. "Well now...this whole situation just became much more interesting, didn't it? What am I to do? Shall I go on with my original plan and sell ye to the highest bidder on the auction block, or should I ransom ye back to the very people I took ye from for much higher price?"

"I warned you," Marin growled before closing her eyes and taking Nicodemus' advice--allowing her anger to surge within her until she felt like she would literally burst.

"Aye, ye did, lass," Brenyr sneered. "But seeing as how yer pretty little hands are currently shackled behind yer back, I would hardly think that..." His words died in his throat, and his eyes widened when Marin's hands suddenly emerged from behind her—the heavy manacles melting off her skin.

"You mean these shackles?" Marin asked darkly while opening her eyes and smirking.

"Not...not possible," Brenyr sputtered. "Yer hands were bound! Everyone knows that mages can't do magic with no hands!"

Marin's smile became menacing, and as she gripped the bars of her cage, they briefly glowed red before they began melting within her grasp. "You know nothing of magic or mages," she hissed moments before the slaver captain burst into flames with a scream.

~*~*~

"There she is, Lord Lovely Locks," Virgil drawled while motioning to the Ravager as they approached. "Now, all that is needed is to run up a flag of truce so they don't attack us when we get too close, and then we--" His words were cut off by an explosion below the decks of the targeted ship as a hole was blown out through the side. "Well...this certainly complicates things," he said with a heavy sigh and a somewhat martyred expression.

"That's Marin!" Velias cried in rising panic as he watched the fire begin spreading to the other parts of the ship. "Can't this ship move any faster?" he demanded while whirling around briefly to face the pirate captain. "We must get to her before that ship sinks!"

"Don't be worrying yourself, elf," Virgil soothed while briefly closing his eyes as he sharply turned the helm. "Your princess is valuable to us both. The sea won't be claiming her today." Moments after the words left his mouth, the ship surged forward. "Be ready to move," he growled at Velias as the Leviathan began pulling up alongside the Ravager. He stepped away from the helm and hurried to the stairs. "Ready the ballistae! Use them if any crewman from the Ravager tries to board! If any crewman from the Ravager does manage to come aboard, kill him!" he bellowed to his crew as he stepped quickly down the stairs with Velias on his heels. "Give no quarter!"

"What are you planning?" Velias asked worriedly as he followed closely behind Virgil while watching the fire spread aboard the Ravager.

"To board the ship, of course," Virgil answered matter-of-factly. "That princess of yours is no good to either of us if she's burned to a crisp," he added while grabbing ahold of a length of rope that hung from the main mast. "But, I can't risk the damage to my own ship by boarding by way of a gangplank, so by rope we shall go," he said while motioning to a rope on the other side of the mast. "Be quick about it! With the way that fire is spreading, we don't have much time before the entire ship goes up!" 

Gripping the rope tightly, Virgil ran to the far side of the ship before swinging and allowing the momentum to swing him across the gap to the Ravager where he promptly let go and dropped to his feet as he drew his twin cutlasses with a dark grin before dashing forward and spinning on the balls of his feet—his movements fluid and effortless as his blades cut through every slaver they came in contact with. Halting once he had cleared a path through the chaos, he gave his blades a twirl. "I would wager that you've long since come to regret your choice of prey," he declared with a knowing smirk to the slavers who frantically raced past him as Velias swung onto the ship and landed in a crouch before drawing his own blades.

Even in the midst of all the chaos, Velias could not help but cast curious glances at the pirate captain. Not even among the elves had the Celestial Knight seen such speed and agility. The closest thing Velias could liken it to was a serpent.

Whirling around to block the swing of a slaver's blade with one sword before stabbing him deeply through the belly with the other blade, Virgil found himself suddenly face to face with a petite, redheaded figure emerging unscathed from the very flames themselves below the decks—a blood-coated sword gripped in her hand and streaks of blood spattered across her face. "Marin Draconya, I presume?" he greeted with a smile as he allowed the dead slaver to fall from his sword and crumple to the floor.

Marin summoned a fireball into her free hand and dropped into a battle-ready position. "Stay back, slaver! I will not be sold like chattel!"

"Marin! Stop!"

Above the din of the chaos, Marin heard a familiar voice calling her name, and she whipped her head to the side with a look of relief as she saw her trusted friend fighting his way to her. "Velias!"

"Marin, stay your hand!" Velias shouted as he cut through the last slaver that stood in his path—leaving the crew of the Leviathan to deal with the rest as they attempted to escape their fiery deaths. "He's not our enemy!" he cried as he ran to Marin's side. "I will explain later, but first, I need you to control the flames!"

Marin blinked and suddenly became aware of the raging inferno around them. Raising the hand that held the fireball, she focused upon its pulsating energy and drew all the flames from the ship into it before finally extinguishing it.

"Impressive..." Virgil all but purred with a smile.

The moment the flames were dealt with, Marin turned and threw her arms around Velias' neck. "You came for me! You found me!"

"Did I not tell you that I would always find you?" Velias asked while sheathing his blades before he held Marin tightly—all tension leaving his body in a sudden rush of relief.

Virgil cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt this tender reunion, but the ship is falling apart thanks to your little escapade," he said dryly. As if on cue, the Ravager groaned audibly as the bulkheads' frames began crumbling and disintegrating. "Move," the pirate captain said simply while striding at a quick clip towards the railing. "Gangplank!" he barked to his crew. "Now!" Moments later, the gangplank was positioned between the two ships, and Virgil held out a hand to Marin to help her up as she and Velias closed in upon him. "Move, pretty lass," he instructed. "Unless you fancy being fished out from amongst the ship's ruins," he added with a cheeky grin.

Marin did not return Virgil's smile as she accepted his hand before hurrying across. Velias was also rather stone-faced as he hurried after her, and Virgil hurried after the elf to arrive safely upon the deck of his ship mere moments before the Ravager broke apart with a final groan—the bigger parts sinking below the watery depths as the smaller planks remained afloat.

Velias' hand found Marin's and gave it a squeeze as he watched with her, and when his charge nestled into him for an embrace, he did not think twice about wrapping his arms around her. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" he asked worriedly while gazing down at Marin.

Marin gave a small shake of her head. "I awoke in a cage...I have bruises on my wrists, but I suspect they are from my manacles."

Velias softly cleared his throat. "Did they..." He cleared his throat again. "Did they touch you?" he asked hesitantly—clearly dreading the answer.

Marin blinked. "I...I don't think so," she answered uncertainly.

"The pretty lass remains untouched," Virgil replied while lazily leaning a hip against the railing and regarding the pair.

Marin pulled out of the circle of Velias' arms so she could turn and face the pirate. "How can you be so sure?" she asked curiously.

Virgil gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "I have a nose for these things, lass," he replied with a slow grin. "I've had my share of virgins, so believe me when I say that you are quite unsullied."

Even as she breathed an audible sigh of relief, a blush colored Marin's cheeks. "And just who are you?" she asked once she had found her voice.

"Of course, where are my manners?" Virgil mused as his grin grew a fraction of an inch. "Virgil the Obscure at your service, pretty lass," he said with a flourish and a bow.

"Virgil the Obscure?" Marin repeated with a questioning lilt and a raised eyebrow. "That's quite the name..."

"Yes, I am rather fond of it myself," Virgil replied with his grin still in place as he straightened. "It's quite popular with the ladies," he added with a wink before slowly sweeping his gaze over Marin.

Marin's blush deepened and her jaw dropped just a bit. "I...if you say so," she said hurriedly while averting her eyes and trying to figure out how best to change the subject. Never before had she been faced with such brazen flirting!

"I do indeed," Virgil purred with his grin widening just a bit more.

Marin cleared her throat and fought to regain her composure when in reality it felt as though her face was made of fire. "Well then...I shall take you at your word."

"Only at my word?" Virgil sighed melodramatically even as his grin remained in place. "Such a pity indeed."

((A/N: Want to know what happens next? Buy the book to find out ;) It's available on Amazon, Kindle & bn.com!))