- Chapter 9 -

Previously...

Raven's arrival was sudden, and startling. One moment, all was quiet in the neighbourhood where she and Ashyra lived, the next all was chaos. A great wind arose, the like of which was unknown in the living memory of a place where the weather was strictly controlled, ripping slates from roofs and causing windows to rattle and creak in their frames. Two windows - more like doors, opening onto Raven and Ashyra's back porch - suffered far worse as Raven landed. The mystical power she had subconsciously called up to speed her on her way caused the windows to fly inwards, against their hinges, showering the floor with tiny diamond-like cubes of shattered glass...

The black-haired dancer, wings outstretched, was a vision of legend, a terrible Fury cast in tanned flesh, swirling tresses and gleaming white synthetic leather. Her air of ferocity vanished, however, the moment she caught sight of the two women on the couch...

Ashyra was naked but for her boots, and lay on her front, resting her head on her folded arms. Another female, half Raven's height or so, sat straddling the Shaelin dancer's back, facing to the rear, long black hair falling forward onto Ashyra's back. The stranger wore only glistening black thigh high boots, heels and toes armoured with plates of gold, and long gloves of plain black leather, the palms of which rested on the other girl's back, near her behind.

Ashyra's eyes had been closed, but soon opened when Raven appeared. "You are paying to get that fixed, you know", she mumbled, her words muffled by her hair and arms. "Now, what exactly has you quite literally storming in, without knocking?"

Raven was speechless. So was Ashyra's diminutive companion. The small female was quite simply awestruck, frozen in the midst of whatever she was doing by the sight of Raven.

"I don't feel anything from you, stranger", Raven eventually managed to say, once her astonishment was back under control. "Why is that? Who - and what - are you?"

The girl recoiled, but only slightly, from Raven's stare, then recovered, her expression changing from surprise to wonder. "I am Marishanna...Marishanna of Daliphae", she said softly as she climbed off Ashyra's back, and dropped onto the floor. "You...you are Raven - but you are more than just a dancer..."

"That I'm well aware of", said Raven sternly, carefully picking her way through the broken glass as she walked down the two steps that led down into the open-plan ground floor living area. "You haven't answered all my questions. Why can't I sense your emotions? It's plain to see in your face that you're not some machine, devoid of feelings."

"I am careful to shield my thoughts from external intrusion", said the small female, her long black hair covering much of her body like a cloak now that it was allowed to fall free about her. "It is partly a natural defence, common to my people, the Salvandireen, and partly intensive training of the mind, essential for the study of magic."

"Don't be so rough on her, girl-friend", begged Ashyra, lifting herself up and twisting into a sitting position. "She was giving me a massage. I got all upset, and nearly drank myself unconscious - Marishanna's been looking after me."

Raven did not know what to think. This diminutive newcomer had done no noticeable harm, and Ashyra showed no sign of being under a spell, something Raven had feared from the moment magic was mentioned. There was still something not quite right about this "Marishanna", and Raven resolved to observe the woman with caution until she knew her better.

"You let a complete stranger into the house, and you were alone with her for who knows how long", said the winged dancer. "You broke two of your own rules!"

Ashyra retrieved her dress from the floor - one of two lying there - and pulled it on over her head. "Yeah...I know...", she mumbled apologetically.

"It was never my intention to harm your companion", assured Marishanna, not making any moves to get dressed herself. "Especially now that I have seen...this..."

She finds me fascinating, Raven realised as the girl circled her, but not in the same way as visitors to The Phantasia. Does she know something...?

"I must know", Marishanna said, quite suddenly, and too softly for Ashyra to hear. "Are...are you a demon, or at least part-demon?"

That was the second time the word "demon" had been used by someone encountering Raven. A Dyal spy, discovered on the royal vessel of the Prince of The Sapphire Cluster, had referred to her as such, using the term "!'kla'Aa" from his race's purring, hissing language. That came on the very first occasion that Raven made use of powers she previously had no idea she possessed.

"I do not know", Raven replied, quite truthfully. "I am yet to explore the possibility. What is it to you?"

"I would gladly offer my services to a demon", Marishanna purred ominously, and Raven knew at once that she had been right to be wary.

"I think you should go", advised Raven, the yellow and red in her eyes starting to glow as though they were windows to some great fire within. "I see it now. You hide your mind so that people cannot see the darkness inside."

"You judge too swiftly, milady", said the small woman, collecting her things - a short black leather dress and a belt, from which hung a short silver sword. "That is why I conceal anything. Too many are too quick to assume they know a person inside and out, based on one glance. That is how a goddess is mistaken for a whore, a wise man is dismissed as a lunatic..."

Marishanna smiled slyly. "...and that is also how the captain of a ship that is yours to command is dismissed, quite unjustly, as a foul and unprincipled servant of evil."

Again, Raven was at a loss to know how to proceed. Here, right in front of her, was exactly what she had been looking for, all night and almost all day - yet to accept this gift Fate had laid out before her might be to tolerate someone who might easily be a thief, a murderer...

...yet, at the same time, there was something about Marishanna that made something resonate inside Raven. Could it really be true?, she wondered. Are my powers those of a demon? Could it be that I'm actually a greater monster than she could ever be...?

"Take me to Jaglundar's Rock", she said, as emotionlessly as she could manage. "Help me find my missing friend, and bring her home. I'll pay you for your time and efforts, but thereafter I want nothing further to do with you."

"I can change your mind, of that I'm certain", said Marishanna. "For now, it'll be enough for me to aid you in your search. Whatever your parentage, the result is the same - I am at your service, milady..."

Marishanna left shortly after the deal was struck, and Raven and Ashyra would have sat up for most of the night, discussing their new ally, had it not already been nearly morning. Ashyra was in no condition to miss out on sleep in any case, and Raven sent her to bed. "I'll do all the worrying", she said, and Ashyra simply smiled weakly in return.

Morning came, and when Raven felt it was prudent, she sent word to Chal'Shi, a good friend amongst the other Phantasia girls, telling her to watch over Ashyra. She then went to the club herself, and gave Drasheel the bad news.

"Take Sshraada with you", the manager of The Phantasia sighed, knowing he could not go back on his word. "She did a good job the last time."

"I would be honoured to have her by my side", Raven replied. "In fact, I would be most grateful for her company."

"This is surely suicide", he suddenly added, almost jumping up out of his seat. "She was on a Reclamationist expedition, you said, what hope do you have of rescuing your friend if they cannot protect her? I've seen some of what they've 'Reclaimed from the past', and I didn't think anything could withstand such power..."

"I have all the power I need here", replied Raven, placing her hand over her heart. "My abilities seem to grow with every day that passes."

"So I've heard", said Drasheel. "You nearly blew a lot of people's roofs off last night."

"I'm counting on stealth succeeding where force may have failed", said the dancer. "I'm not planning on confronting the enemy. I just want to get in, rescue who I can, and leave. Whatever inhabits Jaglundar's Rock can keep it, as far as I'm concerned."

Drasheel nodded, surrendering. "Do me one favour, at least", he said, taking an ornately bordered club compliments slip from a drawer and hastily scrawling something on it with a quill pen. "Visit my aunt, here", he implored, pushing the piece of paper across his desk towards her. "The two halves of my family may not be on speaking terms, but I stay in contact with my mother's side, through her. Tysandiel was a wanderer, a seeker of adventure, much like Strides-Tall - she may have something that can help you."

Raven accepted the note. On it was the address of a tavern in the Warehouse Quarter, on the other side of town. "Thank you", she said softly. "I will do as you ask straight away...but in return, please look out for Ashyra. Recent events have reminded her of her brother..."

"I understand", said the club's manager. "I'll give her some time off, if she wants it..."

"That's the last thing she needs", warned Raven. "Dancing frees her mind of worry. Keep her busy - she will understand."

But will Ashyra understand should she ever learn that I know that her brother is still alive?, Raven could not avoid thinking. During her voyage with the Prince of The Sapphire Cluster, Raven had encountered an Ershalin woman, Fayreen, who later visited the dancer in her dreams, and gave cryptic answers to a number of questions. Selflessly, Raven had, with the last of the three questions Fayreen would answer truthfully, asked about the fate of Ashyra's brother.

"...he lives", the diminutive mystic had replied. "You must not tell her, however. She must find out on her own."

Every time Ashyra spoke of her beloved Almin, and his adventures on the Star-Seas, those words came back to haunt Raven. I just hope she finds out soon, Raven said to herself as she and the fearsome Naagian warrior-woman Sshraada climbed aboard a carriage and headed across town to meet with Drasheel's aunt.

For the very first time, Marishanna was having trouble with her crew. They had been wary of her from the start, seeing how swiftly and ruthlessly she killed the previous captain of the Succubus in a duel, but she had promised them good fortune under her command, and she had delivered on that promise - with interest, and without attracting the attention of the forces of law and order. They followed her without question, even though she had no history of commanding any kind of ship...

...until she mentioned Jaglundar's Rock. There were no Murgands on the ship - sailing amongst the stars went against their very nature - but the legend of some terrible invader forcing the whole colony to flee, warriors and all, was still known to many of the crew, and they had no intention of putting themselves in a position to be the next victims.

"Step ashore, then", snarled Marishanna, glaring down at the assembled crew from the observation balcony, near the top of the shark-fin-like command tower, "but know this - you will no longer be a part of this crew if you do. You stand to lose all that those who remain will earn for their continued trust and loyalty. We have faced dangers before, and survived them with barely a scratch - is this danger any different?"

"Aye", spoke up one man. "Murgands don't run. The Rock is now the lair of something even they dare not face, and we'd be mad to go stirring that up again!"

"That has already happened", the adventuress told him. "Your mysterious 'something' has already struck, according to the lady who has enlisted our services. The expedition whose fate we go to investigate was well-armed, and heavily manned - but who is to say what the outcome of their meeting was? Perhaps the inhabitants of the Rock are all slain, and the victors have simply lost contact. Perhaps the expedition is lost down to the last man, and the victor in that case now sleeps off the best meal it's had in hundreds of years...?"

Three men walked away from the gathering, shaking their heads. Marishanna did not watch them go; she still had more than enough of a crew to get the ship to Jaglundar's Rock. "More riches for the rest of you", she remarked. "A bigger share in the profits for all who stay - unless too many leave, and there are too few left to take the Succubus out of port. If that happens, it won't pain me too much to sell the ship, and settle here...but remember that a share of the profits is not the same as a share of the ship itself. I sell, and all the proceeds are mine - and all of you will be out of a job..."

Marishanna disappeared back inside the tower housing the ship's steering and navigation gear, then went down the internal staircase and into the main hull of the ship. A secret route took her to her hidden cabin, where her psychic servant Ta'awen was waiting for her.

"Some will go, but most will stay", said the slender, pale Aa'saani telepath, in response to a querying look from her mistress. "The threat to sell the ship convinced many of the waverers to stand by you."

"As I expected it would", said Marishanna, with a triumphant smile. "I am their captain, but money is their true mistress - and in turn, I hold her leash."

Hers, and a few others besides, the warrior-woman thought, gazing upon the subservient psychic, kneeling on the furs than covered the cabin floor.

Her crew under control again, Marishanna took a moment to freshen up, washing and swapping her short black leather dress for her favourite legless and sleeveless leather body-suit, before going back above decks and out into town again. If what she had heard about Freeport was true, there was something here she needed to get before setting sail at Last-Sun's-Setting.

Now out of work, the former crewmen of the Succubus, seven in all, converged on the nearest tavern to drink away their sorrows - and, just maybe, hear word of another ship signing on fresh crew. Harbourside taverns were the main source of such information, and more besides, as the cloaked figure hidden away in a dimly-lit corner knew all too well.

He listened to the men as they chatted, and toasted their former crew-mates, wishing them well on what they were sure was a voyage straight into the jaws of Old Mother Death herself. He took careful, silent note of the name of their former captain, and the name of her ship, but nearly gave away his presence when Jaglundar's Rock was mentioned, and his self-control faltered, for just a second.

The cloaked man's hand closed around the hilt of the long, slender sword that was propped up against his leg, fingers wrapping so tightly around it that he could feel the wire twisted around the grip through his glove. Jaglundar's Rock...Those were the two words he had been hoping to hear ever since the Reclamationist ship left port, some days before. He had missed that ship, but he would not miss another.

Too much depended on it for him to fail.

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