The Sorcerer's Ascension (51 page)

CHAPTER
17

"This is where we're supposed to look for some old trinket?" Borik asked dubiously.

"That is what Bishop Caalendor said," Malek answered.

"I think the Bishop is trying to drown us and be rid of us. There's no damn treasure here!" Borik shouted.

"Bishop Caalendor is a respected man and priest of my order, have respect!" Malek shouted back, tired of the dwarf's complaining.

"Respect? He has sent us on three wild goose chases already! We were nearly cooked and eaten by
lizardmen
in
Darkmoore
, sacrificed to some giant tigers in Lazuul, and let us not forget, turned into undead by that crazy cleric in that tomb near the Sumaran border, and you know how much I just love undead! And for what? What do we have to show for it? I still have sand in my codpiece from Sumara and a strange rash that is
almost
gone that I picked up in
Darkmoore
and now…this!" Borik ranted until his face turned red.

Maude and her group were standing on the gently rolling deck of a ship they had chartered in the King's name, miles from any hint of land.

"Tarth said he knew a spell that would let us breathe and move under water as we were on land, there's no worry," Maude assured the irate dwarf.

"Of course Tarth thinks he can make us breathe under water, he thinks he's a fish right now!" Borik bellowed pointing an accusing finger at the elven wizard who was currently wriggling around on the deck of the ship and fanning his hands next to his jaw in an imitation of gills. "Last week he thought he was a bird! He'd have broken his stupid skinny neck if he hadn't landed on that woman stabling her horse when he jumped off the roof of that barn because he thought he could fly! Now you want me to jump into five hundred feet of water filled with dwarf-eating sharks and the gods know what else. All on a hunch from a thus far unreliable bishop with my safety and very life in the hands of
that
?" he demanded, his voice breaking to a squeak as he ran out of air and jabbing a finger once again at the elf that was now on his feet "swimming" around the deck fanning his "gills".

"Actually it be nearer six
hunerd
fifty foot according to the charts and the depth
readin
' we took," one of the grizzled sailor's offered helpfully.

The dwarf threw his hands up in the air and let out a scream of anger, frustration, and helplessness. His ranting and arguing went on for nearly another hour before Maude finally got tired of trying to convince the fuming dwarf and took matters into her own hands.

"Tarth, do it," she ordered while the dwarf was still shouting about the obvious suicide that they were committing if they went through with this operation.

The wizard pulled out a bit of seaweed and fish scale while chanting the words of the spell that would allow them to function under water. Once he was finished, Maude went up to the protesting dwarf, grabbed him by his weapons harness, and flung him over the side of the ship. Borik hit the water with a splash that nearly reached up to wet the deck just before Maude, Tarth, and Malek entered the water with considerably more grace.

"I'm drowning, you damn fool woman! You've killed me!" screamed Borik several feet under water.

"You're not drowning, you idiot, if you were you wouldn't be able to talk!" Maude shouted back.

"I, oh…Well it's still a mean trick to play on someone. I could have had a heart attack," Borik grunted, realizing that he was not sinking and could indeed breath.

He pulled out his axe and gave it a few test swings. Once he was satisfied that his movements were not impaired by the resistance of the water he hung it back onto its harness on his back.

"Good work, Tarth. I'll admit, I wasn't sure it would work either," Maude said praising the wizard.

"You weren't sure it would work? Why would you risk our lives if you weren't sure it would work?" Borik demanded.

"That's why I threw you in first," replied Maude, turning to hide her grin. "Alright, we should be close to the place we are looking for. We'll swim down from here and look for signs of some ruins or anyplace that looks like it may hold an artifact."

They quickly got the hang of moving under water with Tarth's spell and began their decent into the watery abyss. The party swam down towards the seafloor with Borik complaining the entire way about his ear drums hurting, his rash chafing, and dwarf-eating sharks. It took nearly half an hour before the sandy bottom of the seafloor came dimly into view.

The light from above faded to a dim murkiness. By the time they reached the sandy bottom, it was almost too dark to see.

"Hey, elf, make a light, I can hardly see a thing and you know these humans are near blind without the sun overhead," Borik directed.

The wizard made a few hand gestures and a radiant light floated just above and behind him. The light cast dark shadows along the sandy seafloor, reflecting off several small colorful fish nibbling at a growth of coral. Unfortunately, it also illuminated several large, dark shapes that began swimming aggressively towards the undersea strangers.
"Turn it off, turn it off! Dwarf-eating sharks!" cried Borik in alarm.

It was too late to extinguish the light now, so the party reached for their weapons as the deadly sea creatures darted in for a quick meal.

One of the big, grey sharks rushed at Malek and tried to grab the cleric in its huge, tooth-filled jaws. He darted to the side and swung his hammer hard into the rough-scaled side. The shark immediately rushed away from the sudden source of pain and circled several yards away. The party quickly figured out that moving in the water required their own body movements as well as simple thought, similar to moving in the astral plane. Not that any had such experience with the exception of Tarth, and that had been an accident.

Another of the creatures dove at Maude who dropped down several feet as the shark came in for a bite. As it flashed over her head, she swung her huge two-handed sword overhead and opened the big fish all along its stomach. Blood and entrails spilled out into the water in a massive red cloud that made it nearly impossible to see.

The blood cloud drifted in the current and obscured Borik's vision enough that he failed to see the largest of the sharks bearing down on him on his left side. As the dwarf kept a wary eye on the shark in front of him, the immense shark on his left snatched him up in its deadly jaws. Borik could hear his steel breastplate shrieking in protest as the great fish tried to crush him. The shark opened its mouth slightly and whipped its head about in order to shift the dwarf in its mouth lengthwise so that it might swallow its tough meal whole.

Borik found his head suddenly halfway down the shark's throat and drew his legs in swiftly before the viciously sharp teeth could bite through the chainmail and snap his limbs off. With large bolting actions, Maude watched the dwarf disappear into the huge creature's gullet.

"Borik!" she cried out as she watched the huge shark swallow the cranky stubborn dwarf alive.

She tried to swim over and attack the shark in a vain hope of rescuing her devoured friend, but another shark attacked from behind her. Maude thought the mad thrashing of the shark was going to shake her body about as it shook her like a terrier on a rat. She felt the shark release her as several bright orbs streaked into the side of the creature. Before the shark could successfully make its getaway, Maude swung her sword and opened a huge gash along the shark's side.

The shark’s gaping wound poured more blood out, further obscuring the already red murky water. Before the shark got out of sight, she saw two other sharks tear in to their wounded brethren, taking huge bites out of the creature. The severely wounded, and now probably dead, shark drifted down to the sandy bottom where it stayed, slightly twitching.

Another shark, perhaps drawn by the sudden appearance of the light from Tarth's magic missiles, bore down on the wizard. He calmly turned towards the newest threat and released a magical bolt that struck the oncoming shark right in the snout. It turned immediately away and fled into the dark waters.

Maude called to Malek and both swam after the gargantuan shark that ate Borik. As they neared the behemoth, they watched as a thin ribbon of blood blossomed near the middle of the shark’s body. The ribbon of blood quickly intensified into a torrent as a large, gaping wound opened in the stomach of the huge fish. As Maude and the cleric watched in stunned disbelief, Borik's hands burst through the wound clutching a dagger and pulled himself out of the shark's stomach in some bizarre semblance of birth.

"It ate me! I told you there were dwarf-eating sharks here and you pushed me in the water anyway, and a dwarf-eating shark ate me as if I was some kind of fish kibble! I am a dwarf, not fish bait!" cried the livid dwarf in accusation.

Before Maude could reply or Borik could continue his tirade, several more sharks were rapidly drawing near, likely drawn by the scent of blood, or so the party first thought. As they watched the threat grow nearer, they noticed smaller, man-shaped figures among the deadly predators, some actually astride them as if they were some kind of carnivorous mount.

The new arrivals carried spears and tridents constructed of various materials. Stone, coral, or obsidian tipped most of the spears. Iron or steel made up a few others and coated in some kind of jelly. Whether the substance was to protect the iron and steel from the harsh salt water or it was some dreadful poison Maude was not sure. Probably both but regardless of its purpose, she and her friends did not intend to let it touch them.

Tarth launched what should have been a huge ball of fire into the thickest knot of sharks and fish people but it turned into a massive ball of steam, viciously scalding those unfortunate enough to be in the area of its effect.

The sharks and fish people charged in, fearless before their enemies. Instead of rushing in to attack the air breathers with their weapons, they swam several feet over the heads of the interlopers and threw weighted nets down on top of them. Malek was the first one captured within the net and was bore down by the weighted webbing to the seafloor. As his body threw up a small cloud of silt as he hit the soft sand, several of the fish creatures dashed in to secure the net and their prize.

Borik and Maude charged after the fallen cleric in an attempt to rescue him, but the undersea dwellers were far swifter and darted between them, jabbing at them with their spears and tridents. Maude and Borik quickly found themselves separated as they defended themselves from the swift attacks. Tarth launched another swarm of magical bolts, striking four of them and driving them away from his friends. His valiant effort to defend his friends cost him as several of the creatures darted in and wrapped the wizard up in a strong net. They wrapped their bundle up so tightly with the net that the elf could barely twitch a hand much less cast a spell.

As Borik lashed out at two of the hideous-looking fish people with his axe, another group dropped a net from above him. It was quickly becoming apparent that the surface dwellers were unaccustomed to fighting in this three dimensional environment and were at a severe disadvantage even if they had not been outnumbered five to one.

Another group attempted to drop a net on Maude but as it dropped towards her, she swung her massive sword in an overhand chop that swept the net over and away from her. She charged towards the group that was securing Tarth in an attempt to free the wizard in hopes that he had a spell that could help them all escape.

As she swam forward, two more of the fish people swam at her. She readied herself for the charge, but instead of attacking her with their spears, they suddenly broke apart and darted several feet to each side of the warrior woman. Between the two fish men was a rope that caught Maude by surprise right across her waist. The two fish people turned in towards each other, crossed behind Maude, and wrapped her up in the rope swimming concentric circles around her, tightly wrapping the rope around her torso, arms, and finally her legs.

The warrior shouted out in rage and cursed the creatures that had captured her and her party. One of the scaled creatures swam towards her and spoke.

"Quiet, air breather! You have trespassed in the waters belonging to the mighty Pescaran people. You have killed several of the people and our sacred sharks. You now belong to the Pescaran people. Your lives are now ours," the creature informed them.