Enchanted Ch. 10

"Watch the rocks. See how our waves break against them? If that was a river water would be flowing out toward us. We'd see rapids or some disturbance at the rocks."

"So it's a low spot," Red said. "An inlet and not a stream."

"It is," he agreed. "Now look above the water."

"Above?"

"The sides. The banks."

"Those are hills. The water cut through them over time," Red said.

"It's called erosion," John agreed. "The land is shaped by the course of the water that runs through it. The water here used to be higher. How much higher? A dozen feet? A score?"

"Deep enough for a ship to sail through," Little Red squeaked.

Red eyed the inlet for a long moment. The ground was sandy around the inlet, but it met steep walls of the hills quickly. The hills rose two score feet easily and the angle made them cliffs, not hills safe for walking. "What's your mind, John?"

"We go ashore," he said. "Investigate."

"There's nowhere to go once you get there, unless you plan on wading up the inlet," Red said.

"Then I'll wade," John said. "I can go with Zynga, but I'd prefer someone to help me with the boat."

"I'll not be trusting Billy's treasure to your good nature," Red said. "You've already plundered my sister and my second mate."

"He got my booty," Little Red mumbled with a grin and wink.

Red sputtered and stared at her. She opened and shut her mouth and then shook her head. Turning back to John she said, "I'll be going with you, and so will Steff."

"Red!" Little Red whined.

"Mare, I need you on the Red Witch," Red said. "I'm your captain and if something happens to me, you need to keep the crew in line."

"Sasha can do that!"

Red snorted. "The crew minds Steff because they fear her. They mind Sasha because they respect me and they know she's my first mate. Without me it wouldn't take a fortnight before they'd leave her marooned and sail off on their own."

"Oh, and you think they'd trust me over her?"

"Aye, they like you. You're young and stupid, but you make them believe and they know as well as I that when something is stuck in your head and your heart, you'll see it through."

Little Red stared at her sister. She nodded at last and turned to John. "You bring her back to me," she demanded.

"I will," John said.

Red smiled and motioned for him to follow her amidships to the longboat hauled up on the deck. She called out orders and soon the boat was flipped over and being lowered down the side. Steff supervised the drop and then kicked the rope ladder over the side.

"Master, you really need to keep track of this."

John turned and saw Zynga had slipped away to retrieve his spear while he was waiting for the boat to be lowered. He grinned and took the spear in hand. He wondered how he could have forgotten it. Going off into the unknown without his spear would be like going to a brothel without a purse. Foolish and likely to get him beat!

Red went down the ladder first, climbing down like one born to the ropes and then taking her place at the bow of the small boat. Zynga went next, her short legs having no trouble with the ropes. John was far from graceful as he descended and then he grabbed the ladder and held it for Steff.

She smiled at him at the bottom and stepped back to the aft bench and set the oars to the fittings. She pushed them away from the boat and then put the oars in the water.

"Did you hear her?" Red asked over her shoulder to John.

"Hear who?"

"My sister. She told you to bring me back. Not you, me."

John smiled. "It's implied that I'm coming back, otherwise how would I bring you?"

Red snorted and fell silent.

Steff rowed the boat through the water, aiming for the narrow beach without fail. The bow ground against the sand, nearly toppling John from his bench. Red smirked at him and offered him a hand. He took it, admitting without words that she'd scored that point.

The three of them pulled the boat up onto the shore and then Steff staked a small anchor into the ground and tied the bow rope to it. They walked up the beach, looking for evidence of anything out of the ordinary.

"Mid tide now," Red said. "It's coming in, but won't rise more than a foot or two more."

"Two feet isn't enough," John mused.

He wandered along the beach, his bare feet leaving tracks along the damp sand that water seeped into and washed away. Zynga followed at his side, walking higher on the sand away from the water, while Red and Steff trailed behind. Red had her saber at her side and Steff had both a dagger in her boot and a short curved sword at her side.

John neared the water where the cliffs closed in. He stopped and stared, searching the sides of the steep hills for any clues to what may have happened years ago.

"Master," Zynga hissed.

John didn't turn to look at her. "We can do this," he said. "Get our feet wet, that's all."

"Master!" the imp growled this time.

John ignored her until she grabbed his arm and yanked him up onto the sand.

He stared at her and opened his mouth to rebuke her when she grabbed his manhood through his robe and gave it a firm squeeze.

John gasped and stared at her. "What's wrong with you?" he hissed.

"You rushing off to a watery grave!" she spat back. "Turn and look, but I'm not letting go of the brain that's got you thinking right now."

John turned and looked. Red was walking past him, her feet splashing ankle deep in the water. Steff was right behind her, both of them ignoring him. John looked past them and started to take a step until Zynga's fingers twisted.

He gasped and stopped. Blinking his eyes and reaching up to rub his ear. "What in the... why are you twisting me?"

"Use your magic, you fool," she said. "Feel it and block it!"

"What? I...Ow! Why do you keep doing that?"

"Magic, Master. Magic!"

John frowned and closed his eyes. He felt his magic rise instantly. It was agitated, or excited, for some reason. He turned and reached out, feeling with his magical sense, and felt a kindred magic nearby. It was calling to him. Soothing him. Seducing him. It promised comfort in its arm. He only needed to go it and—

"No!" John gasped and felt his magic rise up with him. How dare it try to seduce him? He was Beytrixxa's chosen! He was the seducer. There would be no challenger to Beytrixxa's power.

It took almost no power at all to convince his magic to protect him. He had to be shielded from energy that would seek to overpower him and destroy him. His magic, Beytrixxa's gift, was greater than that.

He opened his eyes and saw Red was wading belly deep in the water. She was nearly to the rocks between the cliffs. John rushed forward and grabbed her arm. She struggled against him but didn't fight back as he spread his magic into her and warded her. Steff bumped into him next, giving him the chance to grab her as she tried to go deeper into the middle of the inlet and pass by him.

"What in the... Why are standing in the middle of this?" Red sputtered as she regained her senses.

"Hey! I can't swim with me leg!" Steff yelped and grab on to John's arm.

"Come on," John said as he led Steff back to the shore.

Red waded out, splashing and cursing until she reached the shore and dropped down to sit on it. She pulled her boots off and dumped the water out before putting them back on, scowling all the while.

"That was me, saving you from magic," he told Red when she opened her mouth with something nasty to say. "There's something here, which means we're on the right path."

"What's that?" Red demanded. "I didn't feel no magic."

"I... I felt something," Steff said. She still clung to John's arm even though they stood on hot sand and John had to bury his feet to get to the cooler sand beneath. "It felt warm and nice. Exciting, but soothing. It promised to fill an ache in me. Except I'm not aching, John took care of that yesterday."

"That's enough," Red growled and lurched to her feet. "I was just walking behind you and next thing I know I'm tits deep in the water and you're hauling me back, keeping her from sucking on my..."

"Sucking on your what?" John asked.

"On my tits," Red mumbled. "Son of a whipped whore! What is this madness?"

"Some sort of water sprites. Nereids or naiads or water nymphs or something. I forget what they're called or what they are, exactly. Not my area of expertise," Zynga explained.

"I've heard of such things," Steff said. "Said to lure men to the depths and drown them! But I'm not a man..."

"They did a good job catching my interest," Red muttered.

Steff opened and then thought better of pointing out the obvious. She shut her mouth and looked to John. "You aren't drawn to them?"

"Oh, I was," he assured them. "I was able to block their call."

"Sirens!" Zynga blurted. "Maybe that's what they are?"

"Sirens lure men with their beautiful songs," Red said.

Zynga snapped her fingers. "Damnation, that's right."

"How do we get past them? That water's deeper than we thought," Red said. "Not deep enough for my ship though... and those rocks are still rocks."

"Stay here," John said. He tightened his grip on his spear and looked down at Steff's hands clenching his left arm. "I'll need my arm too."

She frowned and forced her fingers to unclench. John smiled to hide his relief at not feeling her pinching him anymore. "Sorry... but can you really stop them?"

"My magic is stronger than theirs," John boasted. "Besides, I made a promise."

Red and Steff looked at one another. Red turned back to him and nodded. "We'll wait, but not long."

"Don't come after me, I'm not sure how long my magic will protect you."

Red smirked. "Oh, I never meant that."

"Of course," John realized. "All the promises I've made and kept for you but you won't do the same for me?"

"You're not my crew," Red said.

"I'd come for you," Steff offered. She eyes the channel between the cliffs and then dropped her eyes. "It's just that I can't swim. Me leg... you know..."

"I'll be back before you know it," he said and turned to face the cliffs.

Red reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder. "John... you've made a difference. Fool's quest or not, you've warned us and kept us safe while finding the true path. Don't do anything stupid, you hear?"

John smiled at her. "Why Captain, that almost sounded like you care?"

"I do... for my sister. And for Steff. You up and dying would put them in a foul mood I don't wish on them."

John chuckled. "I'll be sure not to inconvenience you by dying then."

"You do that," she said.

"Zynga, keep them safe."

Zynga yawned. "Piece of cake."

"Cake?" John asked.

She waved him away. "Go and eat it too."

John frowned and shook his head. He pulled his robe up and over his head before dropping it on the sand and then turning and wading into the channel naked save for the dagger strapped to his arm and the spear in his hand.

"Saints, look at that arse of his," Steff breathed. "Any other man I'd love to split it with me peg. Him... I just want to bite it and hold it and—"

"Down, girl," Red snapped.

"Oh, I don't know, I think she could talk a little more," Zynga urged.

Steff turned and looked down at John's familiar. She smiled and sat down in the sand next to her. "You know John well, do you? Tell me about him... what does he like? I mean really like?"

Zynga chuckled. "We're not talking about sweet rolls or fast horses, are we?"