Kraken pause in his doling of the weapons.  A familiar power washed over the ship.  Gabb looked out over the ocean, before meeting Kraken’s eyes.  Kraken gave a quick, short shake of his head, and returned to the weapons.

Haven rolled with an easy sea.  The morning sky sparkled clear and brilliant blue.  The wind was steady and filled the sails.  The boxes and crates of enchanted weapons were piled together on deck.  The crew kept one eye on their duties, the other on the happenings with the weapons.

Kraken stood with feet braced wide, and his arms folded on his chest.  Kor and Gabb waited near by.

Cousin glided between unopened containers.  One by one Cousin pointed to the boxes.  As each was opened she examined the contents.  Some items she separated and held back.  Others she identified and sorted by type and purpose.  By mid-day Cousin had separated the terrible weapons from the ones the crew could use.

“Just one to go,” Kraken said rubbing her back.

Cousin nodded.  “Whatever is in that crate is the worst of the lot.”

Jak brought out sandwiches and passed them out.  Cousin sat on an empty crate munching her sandwich and staring at the last crate.  A jug of water was passed around, and she took a long drink before passing it on.  She thumped her heals against the crate side and chewed her lip.

“Spit it out, missy, and quit making faces,” Kor said

Ghost came up.  “You want me to look inside?”

“No.  I think I want to open it in my study.”

“Study,” Bry said drawing out the word.  “Now that you bunk with -”

Kraken gripped Bry’s shoulder.

Bry cringed under the pressure.  “What?”

“Be respectful,” Gabb said.

Bry laughed even as the pain showed on his face.  “I can tease my Cousin if I want.  She’s tough.  She can take it.”

“Can you?” Cousin asked and winked.

“Carry the damned box,” Kraken said to Bry, shoving him forward.  “This crew is out of hand.  Any more foolishness, and I’ll leave the offenders on the next scrape of sand I find!”

“Aye, Captain!” the crew answered.

Lancer helped Bry with the crate.  They left it in the middle of the floor in Cousin’s old cabin.  She watched them go, each eager to see what weapons they might get.

Cousin shut the door, and placed wards to protect the ship and crew, wards to keep Kraken out.  She used her power to unseal the crate without removing the lid.  She felt for wards, traps, hostile spells and all manner of danger she could think of.  Then she pushed the lid to the floor.

A scream tore through the small room.  Cosmic power ripped at Cousin, and clashed against her wards.

Silence.  Cousin felt no external intelligent presence.  She waited, and listened.  Nothing more happened.

Cousin looked into the crate.  Packed in silken cloth was a short silver staff and a book.  The lettering on the book was not a system she knew.  The staff was smooth, a tapered rod like an elongated tear drop.  Both items pulsed with ethereal power.

“I have no desire to enslave you,” Cousin said.  “I know what it is to be seen as property.  I know you are no mere things.”

A shifting in the energy rippled over Cousin’s skin.

Images shifted over the reflective silver.  Scenes of Cousin’s childhood: the Al’Ri island where she grew, the journey with Protector to flee the Masters, Y’Ahno where he failed to bind her and left her behind, her time there, and the Kraken Pirates and Haven all played out.  Cousin smiled without humor.  Her mind raced.  She was uneasy in her spirit though she didn’t see a trap.  On instinct she reached for the Ancient Gods.  They were there.  The book and staff responded to their presence with a soft glow.

“Ah.  That’s it,” Cousin said.  “I will not give up this life.  I am Cousin first, before all else.  If you wish to be used, respect that.  Otherwise, I’ll seal you in and dump you in the deepest ocean trench.”

Power slapped Cousin.  She laughed.  “I am a pirate.”

Cousin stood with her hand on Haven’s mainmast.  She listened to the ship tell her all that had happened while she was away.  Haven reported every foot fall, familiar and strange.  Every change.  Every failed attack.

Cousin looked to the wards and charms on the ship.  None were broken, though the warded cell showed multiple attempts at breach.  She looked to the preparations for departure.  Haven strained against her anchor.

“I know how you feel, great ship,” Cousin whispered.  “Soon.  Very soon.”

Haven warned Cousin of approach.

“Beg your pardon, Des’Tras.”  Ja’Has, an elderly wielder of medium power, bowed low.

“Don’t call me that.  My name is Cousin.”   Cousin had lost tolerance for the title.

Ja’Has trembled under the simple statement.  The conflict was clear in tense muscles.

“Stand up right,” Cousin said in exasperation.  “You look like you’ll fall over.”

Ja’Has stood up.  He kept his eyes lowered.

Cousin turned her back, and walked away.  Ja’Has followed until they met Kor.  Kor intercepted the wielder with a bare blade.

“I must speak with the Des . . .  I mean.  It’s important.  I need . . .”

“Cousin doesn’t have patience for the bowing and scraping,” Kor said.  “The little miss is tired of Al’Ri stupidity.”

Ja’Has flinched with each word.  “But -”

“No buts.  Won’t -”

“Help,” Ja’Has finished.

Kor bobbed a nod.  His eyes were slits.

“Please make sure the Des, that she knows the Masters are aware of Protector’s demise.  Now they can regroup and focus on her.”

Kor snorted.  “Old news.  Half a brain would know it without being told.”

Ja’Has bristled.  “Watch your tongue, pirate.  You still walk among the empowered.”

Ja’Has found himself on the deck facing up at Kor.  Kor’s blade through his shoulder.

“All I see,” Kor sneered, “is sheep.  Sheep waiting to be re-fettered.  Sheep waiting for someone else to save them.  Sheep waiting to be fleeced.”  Kor pulled his blade free.  “Empowered sheep are still chattel.”

Ja’Has rose, the wound healing.  “What would you know of chattel?”

Kor sheathed his sword and open his shirt.

Ja’Has stumbled back, the back of his hand over his mouth.  He turned and fled.

Cousin watched him until his receding form disappeared into the town.  Though she hated being called Des’Tras, she felt for the terror that drove Ja’Has to flee.

Kor stopped next to her re-tucking his shirt.  “Served him.”

“Maybe.  You’ve never let me see what’s there.  Only glimpses after battles through cut and ripped shirts.”

Kor grunted.  “No need.  You know without seeing.  And I don’t want you to think about healing them.  They are mine.”

“Aye,” she said.

Cousin lay tangled with Kraken.  The sweat on their bodies cooled in the breeze from the inn’s open window.  She ran a finger over the corded muscles of his arm, and up his neck.  She nuzzled his jaw, and revealed in the scratch of his whiskers.  He kissed the top of her head.

“I’ll be glad to get back on the ocean,” Cousin said.  “This land is strange under my feet.”

Kraken chuckled.  “Aye.  Two weeks is a week and a half too long.”

Cousin snuggled into him more.  “It took much longer than I wanted.  I still can’t believe the people here want us to stay.”

“Can’t help what others think.  We say we’re pirates.  They say we’re heroes.  And those loyal to Protector hide among them.”  Kraken ran a hand over Cousin’s back in a firm caress.  “And our family wants to take its time, make friends, have relations, and sort out the bad guys.  We are the bad guys.”

Cousin chuckled.  “I’ve known worse.”

Kraken muttered to himself, and played with Cousin’s hair.

She raised herself on an elbow.  Ocean green eyes with shifting shadows met her eyes and held.  She could see her influence, her power, there.  She ran her finger tips over the three scars.  The smooth ridges a reminder of past, and a statement of future.  She felt her body quicken.  “Just because you are one of the bad guys, does not mean you are evil.”

“Evil is an over used word,” Kraken said.  “I’ve only seen it apply a few times in my life.  Mostly, it’s just greed.  I’m not greedy for power over others.  My greed is for freedom, and you.”

“If only it could all be attributed to greed,” Cousin said.  She stretched her body on top of Kraken’s.  “I’ll let you experience my greed.”  She kissed him hard and hungry, the night outside forgotten.

Cousin walked through the cobbled streets of the dock town.  Anyone who attacked was put into status.  She would sort them out later.  Her focus was on reaching Protector.  She followed his energy signature to the fortress on the cliffs.

The doors were open and unguarded.  The courtyard was deserted.  Cousin climbed the stairs to the battlements.  Protector stood looking down at the port.  His robes fluttered in the wind.  An aura of power pulsed around him.  Cousin stopped several feet away.

A coil of sparking energy wrapped around Cousin.  It tightened and writhed over her body.  Then it was gone.

Protector turned to her.  “You hurt me, Er’Rana.”  He spoke with the force of ownership.

Cousin felt the spell seeking a hold.  It too, extinguished.  “My name is Cousin.”

Protector sneered.  “Your name is Er’Rana.  You belong -”

“No.”  Cousin spoke soft.  The energy around her built until she stood in an iridescent haze.

“You think to challenge me?”

“No.  Destroy you.”

A typhoon of power hit Cousin.  She stood under the onslaught, a calm in the middle of the storm.  She let her perception shift.  Trails of power fed Protector.  Each trail was a fetter.  Cousin saw the thousands of lives on the island that could only serve.  With her mind she reached out, and ripped a chunk of them away.

Protector stumbled.  He glared with black orb eyes.  He drew a weapon and charged.

Cousin ripped another group of fetters from Protector, and the weapon fell from his hand.  Cousin began pulling the fetters a few at a time.

Protector stumble back and began an incantation.  The cadence built in intensity and demand until he flung the final words at her: “ah fe’ ‘ter cut iss li.”

“Be fettered and cut to me,” Cousin translated.

Protector stood straight.  His expression full of disdain.  “I saved you from the Masters.  You owe me your allegiance.  You owe me your life.”

Cousin read his memories as she would a book.  She saw the lie and the truth in Protector’s words.  Her rage grew.  She ripped half the remaining fetter away in one terrible motion.  Other wielders ran to aid Protector.  Cousin waved a hand and they froze in place.  “Face me alone coward.”

“Coward?”  Protector laughed.  “I taught you better than that Er’Rana.  You can’t rely on taunts.  Someone like me simply doesn’t respond.”  Protector continued with his lecture on tactics.

Cousin thought a bar maid in Laver’s Gull had a better understanding of tactics than Protector.  She listened only enough to register the words spoken.  She split her focus.  While she watched the preparations Protector made for his next attack, she checked on the progress of her crew, the state of Haven, and pulled all the severed fetters to herself.  Letting Protector draw on the fetters left to him, she traced them to the people on the other end.  She felt their helplessness.  Cousin ripped more of them free.

Protector snarled and threw orbs of elemental destruction at her.

Cousin braced herself, and let the orbs hit her.  She reached into the source of each and made it hers.  Each impact pushed her back until all became part of her core.  Then she walked forward to stand where she had been.  The orbs continued and Cousin ripped one fetter with every impact.  She ripped until only a few remained.  Then she took them all at once.

Protector went down on one knee.  “You are more than I ever dreamed.  You will help me destroy the Masters.  I will rule the Al’Ri.  I will rule the world.”

“No.”

Protector smiled, and struggled to his feet.  “Bring them!”

Guards pulled Kor, Bry, and Ghost out onto the battlements.  Each was bound with spell and iron.  Each was wounded, clotted blood and spectacular bruising colored their faces.  Each struggled and cursed their captors.

“You will,” Protector said, pointing, “or I will consume them.”

“How do I know you haven’t already?”

“Look for yourself.  I won’t stop you.  Try anything, and I will make sure they live a long time.”

“Don’t you do it, missy,” Kor said.  “Better us than you.”

“Fuck ‘em,” Bry said, and was hit in the mouth with the hilt of a dagger.

“Aye,” Ghost said, his voice low.

Cousin was in front of them.  No one saw her move.  The guards were flung down to the courtyard.  She looked into the eyes of each.  She turned to Protector.  “Free them.”

“Bind your will to me.”

“Free them, and I won’t unmake you.”

“Don’t tell me you believe that Des’Tras nonsense the Masters are spouting.  Er’Rana, you can’t be so foolish.”

“Last chance.”

“Kill them now!”

Arch wielders ignited the spells on Kor, Bry and Ghost.  Protector flung himself forward in an effort to put his hands on Cousin.  The spells back fired against the castors.  Cousin removed the physical bindings and locked eyes with Ghost.  In an instant Cousin and Ghost exchanged an idea.  Then only Cousin and Protector remained, his grip on her Sor-von protected arm.

The Sor-van sang and Protector lost his hand.  He looked at the bleeding stump with a blank expression.  Black orb eyes faded to pale gray on fields of white.  He blinked.  “But.”

“No buts.  Won’t help.”

Protector looked at Cousin as if he had never seen her.  “They said that.  As if it meant something important.  They all said you . . .”  His face became contorted with rage.  His hand re-grew.  “I am not so easily defeated.”

“Yes, you are.  The hard part is keeping you alive long enough to suffer for what you did to Gabb, and the rest of my family.”

“I am your only family!  I raised you.  Taught you.  Protected you from the Masters.  I am your father, your mother, your brother and sister.  I am your lover.  You are mine!”

“I remember.”

“Then?”

“I remember my mother’s face.  The terror in her wide eyes when you took me from her.  I remember everything.  I know you inner most secrets.  I know.”

Protector flexed his new fingers.  “None of this would matter if that first fetter had worked.”  He started another incantation under his breath.

“The first one on Y’Ahno.  Curtis Lee.”

Protector added hand gestures to his building spell.  He drew runes in the air leaving glowing lines that faded slowly.

Cousin smiled a Death Smile.  She opened her perception.  They were alone.  That was all she needed.  She looked into Protector’s Depth.  His power was awesome, even after it was diminished by the lose of the fetters.  Cousin let herself be drawn into him.

The spell climaxed and its force was shot at Cousin.

Cousin flowed into the Protector through the binding spell.  She glided through his Depth to his core.  Gripping it, she forced him into the Ether with her, and let go.  She let him float away.

The all and nothing of the Ether crashed into Protector.  His mind ceased.  His spirit froze.  His power shriveled.  The Ether extinguished him.

Cousin watched while Protector shrunk under the enormity of the Ether.  She floated near until he was no more.  The presence of the Ancient Gods enveloped her.  Their welcome called to her.  She felt herself responding.  Then Ghost was gliding in her mind, swimming through the shadows of her eyes.

Cousin came into herself.  She was on the dock.  Her family around her.  Ghost supported her head in his lap, their eyes locked.  Cousin felt Ghost leave her and return to himself.

Ghost blinked and nodded.

Kraken helped Cousin to her feet.  She turned and helped Ghost.  Cousin went through the crew one by one.  She wasn’t happy until she touch each of them, satisfying herself they were all there.

“Get off, missy,” Kor said as he batted her away.  “I ain’t dead.”

“No one can kill someone as stubborn as you,” Bry said.  His wide smile brought fresh blood to his busted lips.

“Enough jawing,” Gabb said, “listen up.”

Everyone spread out in order to see Kraken.

Kraken forced his eyes from Cousin to the silent town.  “We got a choice men.  Do we free the wielders here, or slaughter them?  Some are helpless.  Some are hiding.  The Protector is no more.  What do we do with his slaves?”

No one spoke for a time.  Each man took time to consider the questions.

Kor stepped forward.  “I would put it to a vote, begging the Captain’s pardon.  I see no choice.  I believe slaves should be freed, always.  That’s just me.”

“A vote,” Harper said.  He rubbed the brand on his check.

Kraken looked at his crew.  He could see clearly that none would kill.  They also wouldn’t deny vengeance to another.  “Begging the Captain’s pardon?”  Kraken snorted.  “Don’t get use to it.  My ship is not a democracy.”

Haven moved with a steady grace.  The battering wind and huge waves did not touch her.  The great bolts of lightning veered their paths to strike harmless into the ocean.

Cousin stood at the bow one hand on the wing of the figure head.  Ollie stood at her side.  They followed the pull to Frick, to the others.  Their target had stopped moving long ago.  When Cousin reached out with her perception she saw the ship docked at an island.  There were towns and settlements peopled with wielders.

“We’re getting closer,” Ollie said.

Cousin nodded.  “I can feel them.  I feel a whole island of wielders, too.”

Ollie smiled.  “Pay back time.”

“No.  The more I think about the fetter Protector put on Gabb, the more I wonder how much choice those people have.”

Ollie frowned.  “How can we tell the difference?”

“I’m not sure most people can.”

Ollie stared straight ahead.  His thoughts moving over his face.

Cousin patted his shoulder, and went to the helm.

Gabb, with Raymond and Nickel on watch, guided Haven by Ollie’s directions.  Cousin stood beside Gabb looking at her feet.

“Well, spit it out,” Gabb said.  “Not like you don’t know the answer.”

“I know the facts.  I want your point of view.  The fetter.  What was it like?”

“Slavery.  No free will.  No choice.  All force.  Even from the distance I could feel the Protector’s will: bring you to him.  If you hadn’t broke it?  Just, thanks for that.”

Cousin didn’t raise her head.  “Do you think his death would have freed you?”

Gabb chewed his lip while he thought.  The storm boiled around them, and Haven sailed on.  “No,” he said.  “The fetter would still be there, just waiting for someone strong enough to take it up.”

Cousin nodded.  “Thanks.”

“Dead would have been better,” Gabb said to Cousin’s back as she walked away.

Cousin went to the galley.  Jak sat with his head in his hands.  Cousin rubbed his arm.  Jak looked up with wet eyes.  “I need you,” Cousin said.  “I need meat.”

Jak jumped up and ran to fill Cousin’s request.

Kraken found Cousin in the galley.  Jak was setting another plate of food in front of her.

“Hungry is a good thing,” Kraken said.  “Think I’ll take a plate too, Jak.”

Jak brought the food and a tankard of ale.

“See if anyone else wants something,” Kraken said.

“Aye, Captain.”  Jak bobbed his head and left he galley with a platter in hand.

“I need to face Protector alone,” Cousin said.  “I know you want to be there with me.”  She met Kraken’s hard stare.  “I have a plan.”

“I don’t like it,” Kraken said.  “I know you can handle him, and the whole island.  You don’t have to do it alone.”

“You talked to Ollie?”

Kraken nodded and tore off a big piece of meat.  He chewed and motioned for Cousin to go on.

“I want to free them.  The ones who are fettered.  It may not matter.  I’d like to give them a choice anyway.”

Kraken swallowed.  “How?”

“A version of the slime spell.  Modified to incapacitate, not kill.  Like a kind of status.  I think I can create a way everyone can cast it.”

“So, you keep Protector focused on you, while we retrieve ours.  What about the fetters.”

“I can rip them from him.  Hopefully, it will damage him.  And I will need you to send Ghost to me when you find him.”

Kraken leaned back in his chair.  “Ghost?”

“I’ll need him to bring me back to my body.  Maybe.”

“Why Ghost?  I’ve seen the Ether.  I should come for you.”

Cousin held up her hand.  “Ghost is a natural Shadow Glider.  Protector will expect me to fight physically.  That’s how he taught me to fight.  And there is a large part of me that wants to rip him apart with my own hands.  I think it would be a mistake.  Ripping out the fetters will do more damage, and free the people on the other end.”  Cousin took a deep breath.  “It may take awhile for me to return.”

Kraken stared at his plate.  “As you wish.  What about the crew?”

Cousin smiled.  “You can heal them.”

“I’ve never . . .”

“You can heal them.  And there isn’t a wielder on the island you can’t take.”

Kraken frowned.  “Prepare the spells.  Haven just changed her pace.”

Cousin stood the crow.  The setting sun was washing the ocean in scarlet and inky black.  She had spent hours repairing Haven.  Her power flowed over everything.  From the crow she could feel all that was Haven, every life on Haven and much more.

She cast her mind wide.  Saw the ocean life to the deepest reaches.  Islands with their peoples and life came into view.  She felt a multitude of ships on the water.  Picked their natures out of the distance.  Cousin found her crew.

The life below her moved.  She could feel Gabb fighting to pull his human skin together.  Raymond ate and recounted his experience during the attack to Kraken.  Cousin listened at a distance.  She heard as if she sat there.

As she listened, she looked to herself.  There was no fatigue.  She felt no drain on her power.  Physically, she was as well as when she woke.  Her power flowed and pulled and stretched with no restriction.

Cousin looked into the Ether, and saw again the welcome there.  Saw the flow of Kraken’s power in the rich swirl of ethereal power.  She had done that to him.  Had brought him with her into that place were all and nothing existed together.  Cousin sighed and came back to Haven.

Gabb had joined the conversation.

Cousin jumped to the deck and went to the galley.

“. . . that’s when I lost my charm,” Gabb said.  “I’m not sure if he knew or what.  I tried to pull in as much energy from it as I could before it was out of range.  The spells flying around the ship were worse than a hurricane.”  Gabb nodded at Cousin and gave a soft rueful smile.  “I see what you mean about the way we look alike.  He was older, but – damn.  It took me back a half second too long.  I dropped my guard.”

Raymond and Harper nodded.  Raymond’s new scars were a web over his skin.

Nickel sneered.  “Thought he was you at first.  The floating should have gave it away.”

Gabb chuckled, a dry hoarse sound.  “I don’t think he approved of me looking this way.  He seemed to take great delight in torturing me into my true form.  Then I couldn’t breath.  I tried to breath through my skin.  I guess it worked just enough to make the difference.  At the end . . .”  Gabb shuttered.

“He fettered your power,” Cousin said.

Gabb nodded.  “It’s gone now.  Thanks for that.

Cousin squeezed his hand.

Kraken stood.  “Everyone watch yourselves.”  He unleashed his new power.  It crashed over the ship in a swirl of chaos, and swept through every particle of Haven.  Kraken’s eyes glowed swirling nebulas of shifting color.  He let himself go, and felt to the very core of the ship.  And Haven answered.

Kraken returned to himself.  He looked at the faces of his crew.  Their expressions were mixed, their minds blank.  “Hard to process?  Are you injured?”

“Give them time,” Cousin said.  “Maybe they will understand better after we explain.”

Kraken nodded and sat.  “When everyone is ready.”

Gabb blinked.  “On your word, Captain.”

The others nodded one by one.

“I owe an apology,” Kraken said.  “I did not think to take precautions.  I should have.”

“We should have,” Cousin said.

Kraken took her hand and kissed the palm.  “Cousin came to report the abatement of the storm.  She saw my worry – my distractedness.  She sought to ease my mind.  She . . .”  Kraken looked at Cousin , she smiled at him.  “She promised she wouldn’t leave us.  Leave me.”

Kraken took a deep breath.  “We kissed.  We continued to . . .”

“Make love,” Cousin said.

“About time,” Gabb said.

“That don’t explain why the door was stuck, or why they didn’t know about the attack,” Harper said.

“During,” Kraken started, then looked at Cousin.

“We were gone from ourselves,” she said.  “I told you before, I became.”

Gabb waved his hands over the table until everyone was looking at him.  He looked Kraken in the eyes.  “We?”

“Yes.”

“Is the power boost permanent?  A link between you?  Or is it something worse?”

“What do you mean worse?” Nickel asked.

“He means, will Kraken die because his body can’t contain the power?” Cousin said.

“What?”  Harper jumped up and backed away.

“Still yourself,” Kraken said to Harper.  “I am in no danger now.  That has passed.  This is not something we anticipated.  Cousin did not mean me or anyone of us harm.  And,” Kraken looked from face to face, “what she gave up to return to us is more than any mortal creature can understand.  I saw and still do not understand.”

“What did you see?” Jak asked.

Kraken shook his head.  “I don’t have the words for it.  The best I could do is call it the Ether.”  Kraken looked at Cousin.  “A place of vastness.  A place where Cousin is welcome and wanted.”

“Can’t be more than she is wanted here,” Harper said.

“So, what about the door?” Jak asked.  “There is no way they didn’t try to get in.”

Kraken looked to Cousin.

She shrugged.  “The only thing that makes sense to me is the joining of our powers sealed the room.  Add the pressure of the Ether, and no one would have been able to open the door.”

“So, it was the Ether,” Raymond said.

“Yes,” Cousin said.

Jak got up and brought a bright green bottle and cups to the table.  He uncorked it and pored a shot into each cup.  He forced the cork back and set the bottle center table.  They each took a cup, raised it and knocked back the shot.

Kraken slammed his cup on the table.  “Now, we go get our people.”

Kraken and Cousin sat in the galley listening to Jak and Harper and Nickel talk about the attack.  The typhoon of power swirling around them was kept from the injured.

“The storm was over, and the speeder had just ran out,” Harper said.  “Gabb had tried to report.  The cabin door was . . .”  Harper looked between Kraken and Cousin and blushed scarlet.  The brand on his check showed white.

“Go on,” Kraken said.

“Bry was in the crow.  He never called down a warning,” Harper said.

Nickel shook his head.  “Not his fault.  I was on port, and I didn’t see anything until a grapple struck the bulwark right next to me.  Then there was a ship twice our size, and boarders coming over the railing.”  Nickel looked at Kraken.  “I never saw them coming.”

“You wouldn’t have,” Cousin said.  “There is no fault in the crew.”

Harper glared, opened his mouth, then clicked it shut.  He closed his eyes.  “The charm you made saved me.  Some of those spells were . . . were awful.”  Harper’s expression became hard.  “And I used every ounce I got against them.”

“Good,” Kraken said.

“I came out of the galley,” Jak said, “and it was like ants swarming.  I felt the charm on my neck, like it was singing, then I was pushed back.  I hit my head.  Must have knocked me out.  When I came to, the ship was gone.  A dot at the horizon.  And only us here were left.  I didn’t see Harper at first.  He was hanging over the side, tangled in some out rigging on starboard.  I tried to get into your cabin.  The door wouldn’t budge.  My guess is they tried too,” Jak shrugged.  “I came back on deck, and screamed for anyone to answer.  That’s when I heard Harper shouting and banging on the side of the ship.”

Harper nodded.  “Jak hauled me up, and we searched the ship.  Between us we got the rest into the galley.”  Harper looked at Kraken and Cousin.  “We thought they got you too.”

“I don’t remember much after I was hit with that last spell,” Nickel said.  “Before that we gave better than we got.  My enchanted weapons were more that effective, with the charm doing its work.  I cut several down before getting cornered with Ollie.”  Nickel shook his head.  “Then this guy floated over us, and pushed the air knocking us around.  I threw a blade and nicked his arm.  That’s when he hit me with the slime.”

Cousin’s eyes boiled darkness.  The air in the galley became thin.  Kraken took her hand and squeezed.  She blinked, and the air cleared.

“You know something,” Kraken said.

“It was Protector.  He has the rest of the crew.  I could feel them from Ollie’s connection to Frick.”

“Frick and Frack strike again,” Harper said.  “I’ll never pick on them again.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Ollie said.  He coughed and struggled to sit up.

Cousin got up and rushed to him.  She sat behind him and let him lean against her.  Letting her power flow over him, she looked for further injury.  She healed what she found, and motioned for water.

Ollie drank in sips.  He sat the cup down, and leaned his head against Cousin.  He closed his eyes.  “I can feel Frick.  Most of the others are around him.  Kor, Bry, and Ghost aren’t there.  Everyone is wounded in one way or another.  None as bad as us.”  Ollie opened his eyes.  “I can’t tell where they are, only that Frick is getting farther away.”

Kraken paced the galley.  He stopped to stare at Gabb, then paced again.  No one spoke for a time.  Jak got up and started cooking.  Harper helped Ollie stand and move to a chair.  Cousin checked on the those still healing.

Raymond’s cuts were all scars, and he slept.

Gabb’s bubble pulsed with ocean energy, and his human skin was beginning to grow back.

Jak put food out, and sat down.  He stared at his hands.

“Speak up, Jak,” Kraken said.

“I didn’t help.  I didn’t do anything.  I was useless.”

Cousin walked behind him.  She touched the knot on the back of his head.  Jak flinched.  “You tried,” she said.  A soft pulse of warm energy flowed over Jak.  “We were not here.  We did not help.  We did not know.”

“But . . .”

“No,” Kraken said.  “No buts.  This is our fault.”

“Where were you?” Harper asked.  “Cousin said you weren’t here.”

Kraken looked at Cousin.  She smiled and nodded.  Kraken shook his head.

“Yes, Kraken.  They need to understand.”

“I agree.  I’ll wait for Gabb and Raymond to wake first.  I’ll tell everyone at the same time.”

Cousin walked to him, and floated up to look him in the eye.  She rubbed her check on his, then kissed his nose.  “As you wish, my love.”

Harper coughed and looked at the others.  Jak smiled like an idiot.  Ollie bit his lip to keep from laughing.  Nickel whistled low and smiled big.

“Works for us,” Harper said.

Kraken woke with a start, the warm form of Cousin tangled around him.  The even rise and fall of her breathing pulled him into quiet comfort.  The weight of her head on his chest, and the feather of her breath on his skin made him aware of every physical sensation of his body.

Kraken stroked Cousin’s hair back from her face.  He didn’t remember the braid coming loose.  He ran a finger over the point of her ear.  Her closed eyes were large in her peaceful face.  Kraken remembered their Serpent Shadows, and could feel his plunge into their depths.  His body crackled with explosive energy.  Feeling the new energy, his power coiled and struck out into the Ether.  The uncontrolled bolt caught him be surprise.  He felt into his own Depth.  His power was more.  Kraken smiled.  Cousin hadn’t moved at his power spike.

The roll of Haven on easy waves rocked them.  Kraken felt outward with careful control.  The ship was silent.  Her rigging hung slack.  Kraken felt further.  Haven heaved great sighs.  He frowned and released some of the restriction he put on himself.

The whole of the ship came into focus, and he sat up, wide eyed.  Six men and a battered ship met his perception.  Four of those men lingered on the edge of death.

Cousin woke with Kraken’s movement.  She met his eyes and jumped from the bunk, Kraken close behind.

They ran from the cabin.

The sun shone bright on the ruin of Haven.  Kraken screamed rage, and Cousin stilled.  She grabbed his hand, and pulled him toward the galley.

Jak met them at the door.  “We tried . . .”

Cousin ducked passed him and ran to the dying.  Gabb, Raymond, Ollie, and Nickel lay unmoving.  Cousin touched each in turn.  She pricked an index finger, and drew a rune with her blood on each of their foreheads.

Cousin returned to Gabb.  His human skin was gone, and his complexion was blanched silver-gray.  His gills were white.  Cousin placed one hand on the top of his head, and the other on his stomach.  She spoke an incantation in a lost language.  An orb of green-blue formed around Gabb.  He took a deep breath through his gills.

Cousin moved to Ollie.  She could feel the twin connection to Frick.  Through it she knew the rest of the crew was alive, if not well.  Cousin examined the wounds then drew a series of runes down Ollie’s chest.  She drew other groupings down his arms and legs.  Removing his boots, Cousin pressed her thumbs into the bottoms of his feet.  Ollie opened his eyes and gasped, then relaxed back, sleeping.

Raymond bled from hundreds of cuts.  Cousin spoke a single word and all bleeding stopped.  Cousin pricked her thumb and put a drop of blood on Raymond’s tongue.  He convulsed.  She held him down with a hand on his chest.  When he stopped, his breathing was deep and measured.

Nickel didn’t breathe.  Cousin could feel the spell sliding over his skin like slime.  She knew the castor.  She held a hand over Nickel’s eyes, and let her power slide over the energy of the spell.  The spell bubbled and hissed and pushed back.  With a final argument it was gone.  Nickel began to breath.  Cousin touched his checks and he opened his eyes, blinked and sat up.  “Stay down,” she said, then moved to Harper.

Harper sat with a bloody rag tied around his head, and holding a broken arm to his chest.  He glared at her, his purple eyes dark and hard.  “What happened to you?”

“I became.  You want help or not?”

Harper sagged, and she caught him.  Cousin slid a hand over the arm, and the bones knitted together.  She kissed his head, and the cut healed.  “You’ll live,” she said.

Kraken came over with Jak.  Cousin shook her head.  “Gabb first.”

Kraken nodded once.

Cousin knelt next to the bubble that surrounded the Mer.  His breathing was irregular.  Blood frothed from his gills.  Cousin sent her awareness into him.  She saw his injuries.  She poured her love into healing them.  Tissues, muscles and bones flowed into proper shape.  Cousin’s focus shifted to Gabb’s power.  The fetter she felt was one she had felt it in most of the Al’Ri she had faced.  Rage rose in Cousin.  She reached to the source and ripped.  Gabb’s power was his again.

Cousin leaned back.  She struggled for control.  Protector would pay.

Kraken came behind her, and put a blanket around her shoulders.  He stepped back.  Motioning for Jak and Harper to follow him, they left her alone.