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Blog Post 63: The Adventure Shop: Part 30:

11/13/24

“How are you feeling today?” 

Dahlia came up to Tadgh. Tadgh smiled and breathed in the sea air before turning to look at Dahlia beside him. 

“So much better. I don’t know how Hazel does it, but I don’t feel like I usually do on a ship.”

“Have you traveled a lot before?” 

Tadgh stared back out to the horizon. “Too much. I would love to find a place that I could call home.” He looked behind him to his odd, chosen family. “But I could not leave them.” He blushed before he cleared his throat.  “You have not traveled before.”

“Is it that obvious?” Dahlia smirked as Tadgh nodded, letting her continue. “I transported using my magic to different places. I thought that meant I was well-traveled. I had knowledge. I went to the shops I needed to go to and then back to my home. My shop. This though…”

 She looked around as Tadgh had done. The adventurers around her. The ones who brought her this far. She was not prepared for the events that had happened and now could only boast of little experience.

“This is unlike anything I have ever done. I cannot wait to get back to my shop, but I wonder if it will be the same? If I will have a desire to get out and go somewhere. I can not believe how well Hazel withstands all of this. I respected her before, but now, I have a new level of respect.”

“You are a new adventurer. They always think they know more than they do and always underestimate the toll it takes. Knowing where you lack knowledge and ability is what will save you. Some do not learn that lesson until the consequences.” Tadgh looked solemn. 

Dahlia breathed in deeply, not sure what to say, but she felt the weight of his words and his loss. She wondered if he was once the new adventurer who did not learn until it was too late. 

A long whistle sounded and Dahlia jumped, and she heard Captain Reyna call out, “Pelagic Acarid are on the ship. Prepare yourselves!” 

“What is that?” Dahlia turned to Tadgh in fear.

Tadgh shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“That is the fancy name for sea mites. They do not harm the ship, but they will eat flesh. A whole ship will be stripped of its crew’s flesh. That is where the term ‘skeleton crew’ came from,” Valentina noted as she came up and took the cover off her eyes. 

Dahlia was struck by the brilliance of her bright orange eyes. 

“Focus Dahlia. These creatures eat flesh. If one is on you, the whole swarm will eat you till you are nothing but ivory.”

“How do we stop them?” 

“Oil turns them into stone; anything but fire because you will take the ship down with you. If you have any armor that is sealed, go put it on now. If you have any tricks up your sleeve, go before you lose the opportunity.”

 “Tadgh,” Valentina called to him. He blushed and Dahlia thought if they made it out alive, to ask him about this. She was pretty sure he liked Valentina. 

“You need to prepare. Use your voice to destroy them. Cover yourself in oil to evade them. They struggle with the substance and cannot get traction. From head to toe. Nothing should be left to give them an inch.” 

Dahlia left them as Caridad smiled at her. Dahlia was glad the warrior with the blood of angels looked calm. A simple laugh came from her mouth as Pertinax doused himself in oil. Caridad turned and got a mischievous grin on her face. 

“Looks like someone else needs help!” she said, lifting the barrel.  Oil started flowing from Dahlia’s head, down to her toes. 

She heard Xaxol yell, “That’s enough. We want to kill the mites. Not her.”

“AHHRGH!” A scream rang out. Dahlia turned as a hand shot over her eyes. 

“Don’t let her see that. Get her to the helm. Now!” Valentina commanded. 

Xaxol pulled her away as she wondered what they were trying to prevent her from seeing. Another scream rang out and her stomach dropped. What happened and who was it? Xaxol pulled her up as the Siren she now knew as Reyna looked at a map stuck to a desk with a knife. 

She was also covered in oil and barking orders on how to fight the Pelagic Acarid. Dahlia went to turn her head to where the others seemed to fight before she felt a hand on her head, turning her back.

“There is no reason to see that,” Xaxol said in a low voice.

“But what if I can help?” Dahlia asked, turning her head again. Xaxol took her shoulders and directed her so she stared out to sea rather than the ship’s deck where the others were fighting for their lives.

“You cannot and will not fight.”

“Why are you protecting her like she is a child?” Reyna sneered. “She is as much in this fight as the crew I lost.” Reyna looked her over. “Unless she is somehow special?” 

“She is not special but new. Very new to this life,” Bart noted as he walked around before heading past Xaxol and Dahlia. “Keep her safe. The Acarid are not the only things to be wary of.” Xaxol nodded as a crew member came up. He was missing part of his arm and some of his scalp looked like the flesh was gone, but as a flood of bile rushed up her throat, she turned to avoid assessing his injuries further. 

“Captain, there is a sea beast off the port beam. It was spotted below.” Reyna growled as Dahlia thought it made sense. This usually seemed to be how adventures went based on her limited experience. 

“Get the divers ready.” 

“But if they go in the sea–”

“They may get eaten by the beast or the Acarid. Yes. But what are your options, Farrow? After all, you must be captain now?” Reyna snarled.

“On it, Captain!” He ran down the deck as a beast jumped up and splashed the crew.

Screams emitted from below and Dahlia felt water droplets on her.

“This is just perfect.” Reyna looked at her crew and the adventurers below before turning to the map. “I swear, if I have to get a new crew again!” 

“Xaxol,” Dahlia began feeling shaken. The dread of leaving shore once again filled her stomach.

“Dahlia.” Jubair came up with Aislin. “Where are your bags?”

“Below with everyone else’s. Why?”

“Do you have any of the gelatin creatures left?” 

“I have three, but why?”

“Because they may be able to trap them!” Aislin smiled. “I thought of it since they can get me because I can change forms, that maybe something with a different texture and substance may help!”

“I can go find it!” Dahlia said, moving as another scream rang out. 

A scream she knew. 

“Aster!” she called as she turned and her stomach heaved. The oak boards were red and the occasional pop of white made it look like a painting she would see in the market. 

Her stomach heaved again as everything she had that day was expelled. She felt a hand on her back and her body heaved again, the nausea rushing over her.

“If you don’t want to join the skeletons, I suggest you get going with your plan!” Reyna shouted over her spewing.

“How do we get it, hun?” Aislin said, pulling Dahlia’s hair back to look at her. Dahlia tried to breathe, to stop her body’s automated reaction. In and out–until she could form words. “Say ‘bring the cubes’ and place your hand just inside. Do not go too deep because you will get pulled inside.” She looked up as they gave her a sympathetic look before running off.

“Why don’t I have a bag like that?” Xaxol said trying to distract her while Dahlia wondered where Aster was. What was happening to her friends? Were they safe?

“It is a prototype. It wasn’t ready to sell when the shop burned down.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Reyna cock her head and glare at Dahlia. Dahlia’s stomach flipped for a new reason as her skin crawled. 

Screams continued below as water splashed and red flowed. She hoped her friends were not one of the few that had perished. But the selfish thought made the faces of the other crew members come to mind as her stomach shifted again, and liquid threatened to spill from her lips again.

“How much did you eat today?” Xaxol asked with a smirk, seeming to try to make light of the situation. Dahlia shook her head as she wondered how they would come out of this alive. Feeling a prick on her skin she looked down to the small growing hole in her skin.

“Drooping sails!” Reyna exclaimed as she ran over and dowsed Dahlia in oil. The sensation of the stinging stopped, and Dahlia looked to see if she could see the creatures who momentarily had been eating the flesh on her arm.

“You won’t be able to see them without magic or a magic stone. They are too small to see by one’s own eyes alone.” She turned to Xaxol, commanding him, “Bind her wound and cover it in oil. It will not help with infection, but it will keep her alive for the moment.” 

Xaxol took a cloth wrapped around his weapon that looked to be faded gold. He placed it around her arm and once it was in place, the oil was slathered on again. 

“There has to be a better way,” she said in horror, thinking of the others who were not saved. Why was she being saved from the horror and the creatures while her friends and others fought?

“Don’t you dare think about going down there. The only reason we let you come on this hair-brain journey to getting your power back was because we knew you would leave without us anyway. Stay here where they will not be concerned for your safety.” Xaxol eyed her, speaking firmly as if she was about to jump off the ship to help.

“I only wish I could do more.” 

“Then keep making those gadgets for us! Look!” 

He pointed as the gelatinous cubes made their way out to the deck, picking up crew members, blood, and bone in their wake. Dahlia began to see bubbles where something seemed to be dissolving in the cubes after they spit out the crew members. It had taken her a while to figure out how to make a cube that would spit out larger creatures. That cost her a few days of restorative healing when she had her power and tried it out herself. She would never tell her friends about how her experiments came to be because they would most likely make her stop if they knew she experimented on herself. But she would never think of experimenting on anything else. It would be too cruel.

A bright pink cube wiggled happily as it swallowed more bones,  blood, and the occasional pirate. The gray one moved sluggishly, as it seemed to not like what was available for consumption. If Dahlia remembered correctly, those colors preferred fruit over metal and meats. Dahlia could not tell what contents the black cube had. It was like the green cube back home. They both ate anything and everything. 

A giant tentacle swung out of the sea as screams sounded from all over the ship. Dahlia gasped in horror as it slammed into the black cube and scattered the contents over the deck. “No!” she shouted. They were her creations, but each one seemed to have its own little life. That is why she called the one back home Greeny. And hoped he was not causing too much mischief. 

“What are those things made from?” Reyna asked, shocked and moving right beside her. 

Dahlia looked to where she was pointing. The black cube began to slowly form again as it came together over the tentacle. Between the black cube and the Acarid, the tentacle slowly began to dissolve. The beast to the side of the starboard side bellowed and slowly rose. 

She laughed when she saw Bart hanging from a sword on the side of the creature, which based on the creature’s reaction, had no impact. Bart looked to the side and motioned to someone as they made a new plan. 

Valentina walked up to the creature and dove into the water followed by Tadgh. Aislin and Hazel seemed to be moving crew members away and caring for those who could still be kept alive from the creature. Caridad moved out of the way of the pink cube as it began to pick up a body. She shook her head as she walked over and shouted at Bart, who was working on climbing down the creature. The creature whipped wildly as it tried to move off the ship, but one limb had nearly been consumed. The second tentacle was too late in its movement to push off the ship, and the black cube was quick to move to the new tentacle. 

Faster than Dahlia had seen any other cube move. Which was interesting and something she would need to write down for her research. Maybe this was a fish-motivated cube? Black cubes never moved with such agility when she tested them before. Her hand itched to get her writing utensils and books. Anything to make a note of what she saw. 

“Seriously. What did you make those from?” Reyna asked again.

“Trade secret.” Dahlia smiled at her. 

“They look like a dessert I have eaten in Hobsgollow.” 

“That is where the inspiration came from!” Dahlia laughed, finding it funny that Reyna had been to a town one over from hers where she discovered the tasty treat that later made her think of a way to manufacture it in a more useful form. 

“If we all live through this, I may have a job for you,” Reyna said, looking her over. 

Dahlia covered her ears as she heard a “SCCCREEEEEEEEE” emanating from the water below before the creature began to move. It slashed its giant form on the right of the ship, trying to destroy whatever had made that noise. A loud crack rang through and Dahlia felt her stomach drop with the thought the creature had managed to strike Tadgh. Gray coloring began to cover the creature, as its form slowly began to change and the tentacle stuck to the ship began to pull the ship over with it. 

“Get it off the ship! Move it before we go under!” Reyna yelled above the frenzy.

Xaxol ran down with his axe and began to hack away at the creature as the ship continued to tilt. The sea lapped at the side, waiting for permission to come aboard. Xaxol continued to hack away as others joined him, and to Dahlia’s surprise, stone chunks began to fly in every direction.

“Valentina!” she exclaimed, looking for her friends and hoping they were safe. She saw Tadgh carrying a lifeless woman to the edge where the ship threatened to be taken under. His eyes were red from crying or the salt water.

 “No!” She started to run down when Reyna caught her arm.

“You will not leave this post. Bart and the others want you up here for a reason, and I won’t let you jeopardize their sacrifice. Stay. Put.”

Dahlia sighed as Hazel and Borg, who Dahlia had not seen till now, ran over to move Valentina’s body and help Tadgh. As the ship began to take on water, Dahlia felt herself be thrown as the ship righted itself and bounced from the release of the weight of the creature from the ship’s side.

The black cube shuddered and hissed as it expelled the stone. The gray and pink cubes continued through the ship until the Acarid seemed to be gone. Or at least Dahlia hoped that was the case. They scoured the deck and picked up what would have taken the crew a while to clean. 

Aster and Bart ran to the helm and close to Dahlia. Dahlia felt Reyna behind her and could not react in time before steel was at her throat. 

“Reyna, love. What are you doing?” 

“Do you know why creatures are attracted to a ship? Most of the time it is what it carries. Power–for instance.” She played with a lock of Dahlia’s hair as the others began to take note of what was taking place. “Magical power is especially enticing and attracts all sorts of creatures of the deep.” She sniffed Dahlia, which Dahlia didn’t think was a good idea since it had been two days since she bathed since they were conserving water. 

“She smells like power to me. And my benefactor will be very happy to know that her power source is still alive and well.”

“No.” Aster spoke up, “How do you know…”

“Bronsidra?” Reyna asked, moving the steel blade up and down Dahlia’s neck. “Or as you call her ‘the Woman in Yellow’.” The others looked shocked as Dahlia realized she should have known. No one would have made their trail so obvious. 

“Yes. She knows you are following her. Asked me to keep my eye out for her little source of power. Turns out, she needs this one alive to maintain the power. If the source is killed, the moonstones are not nearly as effective. This happened sooner than I would like, but in the middle of the ocean suits me just fine.” 

“What do you want?” Jubair, walking close, holding his hands up to show no threat. 

“To get paid. I am a pirate. What else is there? I don’t want to conquer the world, that is for sure. It would be too much work!” She sighed. “Now you are all gonna jump ship, except the ones I can be sure won’t cause problems and help fill in my missing crew.”

Dahlia looked over everyone and saw that a few were missing. Laz, Brawn, Carnelian, Ainia, and Kamali. She hoped they were below and out of the mind of the Siren that held her captive.

“Why would we jump? If you can only get paid if she is still alive then you hold nothing over us.” Bart spoke up and Dahlia felt the intense urge to slap him.

“Do I not? Silly me.” Reyna shook her head as the blade pressed more into Dahlia’s neck and she winced. “Bring them out!” she shouted.

Tied up and bloodied, she saw Brawn first, who seemed to still be trying to fight despite a hole in the shoulder. Kamili looked terrified and uneasy as she did not like being on the uneven ship in the first place, given her size as a Cyclops. The others looked uncertain and looked to Jubair for their cue. 

Jubair shook his head and turned back to Reyna. “What do you want us to do once we jump ship?”

“I don’t know. Drown? I honestly don’t care.” She looked to her remaining crew. “Move them to the edge and drop him off first.” She nodded to Brawn.

“No!” Dahlia lunged forward as they tossed Brawn off. The blade stung as it momentarily ripped through her flesh before Reyna pulled it back. 

Reyna growled. “Do that again, shopkeeper, and I won’t toss them into the sea. I will cut their necks right here.”

Carlian sobbed as Bart grew pale. “How could you?”

“Because he worked with me once before I stole this ship right out from under him.  Because I am not as sentimental as you.” She smirked at the gasps and looks of anger from the other adventurers. “Huh, guess they don’t know that I used to be your right hand. How sad you kept such a crucial detail from your crew, but I guess pirates really don’t change. Maybe you are more black-hearted than I thought.” She nodded as they dragged Ainia over to the edge. 

Her legs were bound and though she struggled, there was nothing that she could do. “Noooeeeeeaaahhh!” Tadgh screamed as he dropped Valentina’s form on the deck and sprang up at Reyna. The spray of blood hit before Dahlia realized what happened. She breathed in and swallowed the metallic taste of Tadgh’s blood. Tears formed as her brain tried to make sense of what happened. 

Tadgh. The quiet one who never spoke much. She hadn’t really begun to know him till recently. The one who only spoke if you caught him alone in his thoughts. Tadgh, the one who had a crush on the Gorgon he stayed beside at all other times. Making her smile. Tadgh who never got to tell Valentina. The one who had more stories Dahlia would never hear.

Tadgh. The Banshee who gave his life to try to save his friends. 

She heard sobbing and was not sure if it was hers or one of the others, but her mind could not make sense of it. He was alive. He helped save them from the beast. 

And his head lay at her feet. 

His blood covered her body. She looked up and tried to think, but could not find any words. The others stood in shock, and as Dahlia looked at Aster, she saw him calculating and looking into the water. 

“Who will you spare if we go?” he asked.

“I want the healer, the dumb ghost, the cute little gremlin, the minuscule thief, the lazy vamp, the banshee, if she is still alive, the elf, and of course, my Barty.” Dahlia felt her stomach drop as the shock gave the crew time to toss Ainia over. 

“No! Please, stop this. I am not worth all this,” Dahlia screamed. 

“You really don’t know anything, do you, shopkeeper?” Reyna growled in her ear. “You are literally worth your weight in gold. And then some. Toss the next. Put the others in the brig.” 

Dahlia watched in horror as Aster spoke to Jubair and Bart. They nodded and looked at Dahia. Despair was etched in their eyes. 

“No. No. No,” she begged. “Don’t. Don’t go. Please. Don’t do this.” She wracked her brain for any options. She was logical. She had plans. She was the shopkeeper. She made tools every day to save lives. Her job was to see all the angles–to save people.

Her brain would not think. She could not see. Dahlia should be able to find a logical solution. 

There is always a solution to a problem. 

Tadgh’s head rolled and the weight of it balanced on her toes with the shifting of the ship. 

“No,” she whispered as she looked up to see her friends standing next to the edge.  Borg nodded before he jumped into the sea and was swept away. One after the other, they left her for their unknown futures. Caraidad grimaced and shouted, “I will be back for your head.” She pointed at Reyna before flinging herself overboard. 

Dahlia smiled as her mind tried to find the humor in the horror she was watching. 

“Take care of her,” Pertinax spoke firmly to Bart. Dahlia looked at Aster and Jubair. The last two still on board. 

“We will come back and destroy both you and the Woman in Yellow,” Aster promised as his eyes looked over Dahlia. They held promise and hope that Dahlia could not begin to fathom at this moment. 

Jubair spoke, “I will not fail you again.” He turned to Bart. “Keep them safe.”

The ship was quiet. The others had been taken below. Bart stood, now in shackles, at the helm with a crew mate on either side of him. 

Dahlia’s mind began to sort through all that had happened, but could not resolve how it happened. The cubes continued to move around the deck, as if nothing had happened. The ocean was all that could be heard.

Dahlia felt tears coming down her face but did not realize when she had started crying. Her body and mind felt numb. As if there was a way to go back to solve this riddle. This problem. Her mind told her what happened wasn’t logical. It didn’t make sense so it could not have happened. 

“Store the body and the head. Use my magical coffin. It will preserve him. Bronsidra owes me after all I’ve done for her.” Dahlia’s stomach heaved as they picked up the head and showed it to her. Taunting her with Tadgh’s expression frozen in place.

“Oh, get on with it!” Bart shouted at them.

“Will you be a problem for me?” Reyna asked him. Leaving Dahlia alone, she moved to the side and looked into the ocean. 

How could she fix this?

The answer she knew, but didn’t want to believe.

She couldn’t.