The long boat hit the water and the ropes were loosed.  The boat glided over the small waves and the tingle of Mer power flowed up through Cousin’s feet.  Half way the boat slowed to a stop.  Cousin could feel an Al’Ri water-mancer push Gabb’s power away, and take control of the boat.  She let it happen.

At the side of the Al’Ri ship, the long boat rose to deck level on a soft pillar of water.  Cousin stepped from her boat, and it sank to rest beside the ship.

The Hunter was alone on deck.  Multiple powers mingled.  The ship pulsed with contained energy.

“You’ve grown since last I saw you,” the Hunter said.  “The child’s body long gone.”

Cousin looked into flat eyes.  She said nothing.

“Kraken called for this parley.  I’m surprised he would allow you to come alone.  All the easier to free you.”

“I am free.  It is my choice to be here alone.  You are familiar to me.”

The Hunter nodded.  “As I should be.  Protector helped us both.  I will take you back to him.  I will take you home.”

Cousin looked out over the ocean at Haven.  She let the probing fingers go over her unchallenged.  “No.  There is my home.  My family.  I came to send a message.  I am home.  I am happy.  I am free.  Do not try to take me from the life I choose.”

The Hunter shook his head.  “I can not believe you.  No Al’Ri can be free until their Depth is known.  When I look into you I see no Depth.  None.”  Power washed over Cousin.  “Even now, only steps away, I can feel nothing of your power.  I feel the human, the Mer, but not you.  I can only conclude that you are enslaved.”

“You are familiar to me, so, I give you one chance.  Leave us be, and I will let this whole ship go.  Try to take me or harm mine, and I will obliterate you.”

The Hunter’s lips pulled back from his teeth.  “Protector will have you brought to him.  You are needed for the war.  We fight the Masters.  You will aid the battle.”

“I have no interest in Al’Ri wars.  I am not a soldier.  I am a pirate.”

The Hunter started a series of hand motions.  Power built around him.  Flat eyes flared into vast starry space.  The spell grew until it was a shifting, pulsing cloud around him.  He hurtled it at Cousin.

Cousin stood calm.  The spell was tremendous and terrible.  The charm at her neck sang while it feasted on the Hunter’s power.  Faster than he built it up, the spell was gone.  Cousin closed her eyes.  “Kraken doesn’t kill without reason,” she said.  “He wouldn’t kill all those on this ship.  He would sink it and let the survivors fend for themselves.  Kraken tells me that once killing becomes your only answer to a threat, you have become your own worst enemy.  I don’t have Kraken’s moral code.  Perhaps, I am my own worst enemy.  Right now, I am yours as well.”

Cousin waited for the Hunter to draw his sword.  His breath was ragged, and the confusion was clear in murky eyes.  He slowly closed the distance, the sword held at an angle across his body.  He feigned left and slashed right.

The sword met Cousin’s Sor-von covered arm.  She didn’t counter.

The Hunter danced back.  “What are you doing?”

Serpent Shadows cross deep in Cousin’s eyes.  “I am learning.”

The Hunter closed.  Cousin ducked under his attack and sliced deep gouges in his torso.  The Hunter didn’t stop.  He turned and swung at Cousin’s side, and tried to put a dagger through her shoulder.  Taking the hit in the side, she seized the dagger from the Hunter’s hand, and put it through his eye.  He stumbled back removing it.  Blood washed his face.

“Your training with the Sor-von has progressed, but you have no hope of winning.”

“No buts.”  Cousin felt the other Al’Ri on the ship feeding power to the Hunter.  His eye healed.  The bloody rips in his shirt framed unmarred skin.  She counted the wielders by their different power signatures.  Twenty-six individuals funneled their power to the Hunter.  Three more focused on Haven.  Five waited, watched, and recorded events.  Cousin shook her head.  “Your power won’t work on me.  None of the powers here will.”

“Your over confidence is surprising.  Protector taught you better.”

“No.”  Cousin could hear Kraken’s voice in her head.  “When in battle it is best to learn all you can of your enemy.”  Cousin had no more patience.  She was tired of being spoken down to.  Tired of the poking and prodding and probing.  She only wanted to be rid of the Hunter and his ship.  To be rid of all those who would use her.  Own her.

The Hunter dropped his hands, the tip of his sword touching the deck.  “I feel nothing from you.  My spells should work against you and that pathetic ship.  So, why is it that they don’t.  It isn’t the wielders on that crew.  It feels like . . . a vacuum.”  The Hunter stared hard.  “I know it is you.”

“I deny nothing.”

“Then you will serve Protector’s will.”  The Hunter hurtled twenty-six spells.

Cousin drew a rune on the air.  Every spell became a leach, drawing the power from the wielder who cast it.  An energy orb grew as screams came from around the ship.  Each wielder tethered to the orb first lost all their power, then began to loose their life force.

The Hunter lost sight of Cousin behind the leaching orb.  He pulled his own power inside and shut himself off.  He hadn’t felt her build power for the orb.  He hadn’t seen the movement she had made.  He retreated.

At the helm, he looked back at the growing orb.  How?  How had she done this?

A Sor-von taloned hand burst from his chest.  Cousin whispered in his ear.  “I will never serve at the end of a leash.”

Lightning split the cloudless sky.  The air buzzed with the current.  The ocean crackled.  Two ships maneuvered for position.

Cousin stood the crow.  She watched the Hunter progress through a series of movements building his power.  Lightning jumped from his hands in larger and stronger bursts.  She didn’t watch the light show, it was his face that held Cousin’s attention.  She knew him.

Lightning streaked toward Haven.  Cousin drew a charm on the air, and the bolt was drawn into an orb.  The orb came to her hand, small and docile.  A second bolt came to join the first, harmless in the orb.

The Hunter released the power he had built.  Cousin saw him use a spell to see her, saw the recognition on his face.  A current of power feathered over Cousin’s skin.  The Hunter tried to detect her power signature.  He failed.

Cousin waited.  She wanted to talk to this Hunter.  The familiarity was strong.  The need pulsated within her, though she couldn’t say what she expected to learn.

The Al’Ri ship fired cannons.  Balls of red energy flew with unnatural speed.  Twenty feet from Haven they winked out.  There then gone.

The Hunter continued to probe for Cousin’s power.  He continued to fail.

Kraken came up to the crow.  He used his spyglass to see the Al’Ri ship.

“I know him,” Cousin said.  “The Hunter.”

Kraken nodded.  “The wards are working well.”

“He isn’t really trying.”

Another volley of energy orbs flew, and winked out.

“I want to talk to him,” Cousin said.

“Why?”  Kraken looked side long at her.  A shiver ran through him.

“He is with Protector.  If I can talk to him, maybe, I can learn more about what Protector wants of me.”

“Confirm,” Kraken said.

Cousin nodded.  “Confirm.”

“Gabb!  Have the flags signal parley.”  Kraken turned to Cousin as Gabb’s ‘Aye’ shot up to them.  “I’ll go with you.”

Cousin shook her head.  “No.  Please.  I don’t trust myself to catch everything he may do.  Also, it would give away the charms.  Our enemies could begin to find ways to circumvent them.”

“Circumvent?”  Kraken smiled.  “Circumvent?  Really?”

Cousin frowned and closed her eyes.  “On your word, Captain.”

Kraken leaned in close and whispered.  “Go, but come back to me.”

“No buts?”

“I’ll tear down the world if you don’t”

Cousin jump from the crow and slid down the rope.  On deck, she went to a long boat.  She watched the flags signal back and forth, an argument of terms.  Monk’s signals were shorter and more agitated until he threw the flags down, and stomped on them.  His hand gestures made Cousin smile.

“Who’s going with you?” Kor asked.

“No one.”

“Don’t like it.  The prick won’t leave his ship.”

“So, I’ll go to him,” Cousin said.  She turned to Kor.  “All the better to sink ‘em there, Grandfather.”

“Don’t think it works that way, missy.”  Kor walked away grumbling about twist kid’s stories.

Gabb did a double take when he passed Kor.  “What did you do to Kor?”

“I need you to propel the boat.”

“My powers are at your disposal.  Just one thing.  I get to come.”

“No.”

Dawn light found everyone on deck.  The news of the Al’Ri civil war was met with a shrug.  The Kraken Pirates wouldn’t let anyone touch a member of their crew.  A table was set up amidship and charts were laid out.  Strategy was discussed and questions answered.

“I say no more running,” Bry said.  “We see ‘em, we sink ‘em.”

“Aye.  No prisoners,” Nickel said.

Stephen nodded and patted his new enchanted weapons.  “Aye.  We send them under.”

“Sailing blind will get us no where,” Gabb said.  “We need a better plan than ‘sink ‘em’.”

Kraken tapped a finger on the chart.  “This one.  Uninhabited, deep waters, open bay, good high points for watch.  We could draw a few in here.”

Kor shook his head.  “One at most.  The next would know what to expect.  But, if they can track us, why can’t we track them?”

Cousin barked a laugh.  “And without them knowing, too.”

Kraken nodded.  “We take the fight to them.”

Cousin finished healing Stephen and Raymond, and ordered them to stay in bed and rest until sunrise.  She had food brought, and left them to their rest.

She wondered deep into the ship.  Cousin could feel a foreign presence, though she was sure it wasn’t a person or spell.  No corner was left unexplored, until only the bilge was left.

The hatch to the bilge swung down on silent hinges.  She lowered herself through and changed her eyes.  The dark faded away.  Cousin could feel the ocean all around the ship.  Walking the length of the keel, she saw nothing.  The bilge was dry and empty as it should be.

When Cousin reached the stern the presence seemed to be louder.  She lay face down on the keel.  At once she felt the full ship stronger than ever before.  The keel, like a spine, was the central foundation of Haven, and she felt herself relax into it.

Cousin sent her mind out into the ocean around the ship.  Trailing from a silken tether was a talisman.  She didn’t try to remove it.  A familiar energy left a faint trail in the water behind.

Cousin looked farther out into the ocean until she found what she wanted.  A great ocean predator swam in slow migration on the depths.  A subtle touch on its mind directed the fish’s attention to the talisman.  It rose to investigate a possible meal.  The fish bumped the talisman a couple of times.  A gentle nudge and the predator snapped ferocious jaws on the silken tether.  The talisman was swallowed and the silk fell away from the ship.

Cousin came back to herself feeling the solid keel beneath her.  She didn’t want to get up.  Haven was safe for the time being.  All injuries had been healed.  She would worry about what she had learned later.

Cousin reached out for Gabb’s mind.  When he responded, she told him where she was.  Then she slept.

Kraken gave orders to ferret out the remaining intruders, and inspect all parts of the ship.  Watchers were set to prevent anyone from climbing aboard from the water.  He climbed the crow to watch Drake’s ship.  It was still close enough to fire cannons, and there were still plenty of men there to manage a second assault.  His spyglass came often to his eye looking for signs of Drake.

Gabb came up to report.  “All clear, except -“

”Except?”

“Cousin locked that fat trader in the brig.  She said he was trying to force the door with the weapon’s stash.”

“And?”

“He won’t talk to me.”  Gabb shrugged.  “Strange don’t you think?  Him coming here for a room of enchanted weapons?”

“Aye,” Kraken said and handed Gabb the glass.  “Take watch.”

Kraken found Cousin leaning opposite one of the cells.  Her eyes were shut.  Blood still dripped from her hands, and wet her clothes.  “Report.”

“Found him here.  He was using spell and charm trying to break the ward.  He failed.”

Kraken looked into the cell.  The trader was bleeding from his arm and shoulder.  The trader’s sash was ripped and hung on only by a thread.  “One chance,” Kraken said.

“No need for dramatics,” the man said.  “I am here on business.”  He paused for Kraken to answer.  The silence hung heavy.  “I am here to help you.  Only I can handle the item you have.  Only I can get it to someone who can put it to proper use.”

“It?” Cousin asked.

The man chuckled.  “Them.”

Kraken tapped his staff against the door to the cell.  His power coiled into the small room and wound around the trader’s body.

“Hold!  I speak the truth!”

“You have said nothing,” Kraken said.

“They are items of immense power.  I’m not sure what they are.  Only that the Masters and Protector want them.  I only know the energy to look for.”

“I believe you,” Kraken said.  “Cousin, he’s all yours.”

Kraken joined Tuggy at the helm.

“Destination?” Tuggy asked.

“We were headed to Cape Simling before.  Re-set course.  Send Bry up for watch if he is able.  Have Gabb find me.”

“Aye, Captain.

The wind caught and Haven moved away from Drake’s drifting ship.

Kraken entered the galley.  Jak had put out a feast, and the crew ate with gusto.  Cousin came in and started to see to the wounded.  Kraken watched her work until Gabb came in.  “Put some more distance between us and Drake,” he said to Gabb.

“I gave us a push.  You want more?” Gabb said.

“Aye,” Kraken said, and motioned for Gabb to follow.  Kraken walked over to  Cousin.  “Casualties?”

“Stephen and Raymond will be out a while.  I sent them to their bunks.  The rest will be healed and ready for duty within the hour,” Cousin said.

“Any of that blood yours?”

“No.”

“The trader?”

Cousin smiled in a way that made Kraken uneasy and proud at the same time.

Gabb nodded in solemn contemplation.

“Don’t forget to eat yourself.  You’re showing the strain,” Kraken said to Cousin.

“No, Captain,” Cousin said, and the galley silenced.

“No?”

“It isn’t the strain showing, Captain.  I am of the Myst.  What you see is my true form coming forth.  I can change my appearance back to what you are use to if you wish.”

Kraken looked in Serpent Shadow eyes.  They were Cousin’s eyes.  “You are my Cousin no matter what face you wear.  Still, eat.”

“Aye, Captain,” Cousin said.  “You know me.  I’m always up for food, especially Jak’s.”

Jak thumped the table with all the food laid out.  “You hear that.  Cousin likes my cooking.  Any of you lot who complain can just give your share to her.”  Jak thumped his chest, and harrumphed before returning to his stove.

Chatter broke out, and Cousin finished healing the wound she was working on.  She motioned to Harper next.  He brought her a slice of meat and an apple, and refused to be seen to until she ate them.

Kraken went to sit at a table and watch.  Cousin ate and healed and laughed and ate.  Her face was thinner, her eyes bigger, and her skin had a sheen.  Kraken couldn’t feel her power even when she used it.  He didn’t know anyone who could hide entirely if they carried power within.

It came to Kraken that the crew didn’t remove their charms while Cousin worked.  He would ask about it later when they were alone.  Alone.  The sudden urge to pick her up and carry her to his cabin was overwhelming.  He wanted the feel of her hands on him, the softness of her lips.  Kraken made a fist and struggled to remain still.

“We want to know your intentions,” Matty said.  He stood in front of Kraken.  They were the center of attention.

“Yeah,” Jak said putting another platter of meat on the buffet table.  “What are your intentions with our Cousin?”

Kraken looked googly-eyed at his men.

“Guys?” Cousin said.

“No,” Jak said.  “This is between men.”

Kraken looked at Cousin.  Her expression was amused, and she shrugged.

“My intentions,” Kraken repeated.

“That’s right,” Matty said.  “We see you looking at her, and we want to know if your intentions are honorable.”

A murmur of agreement ran through the room.

Kraken blinked.

Cousin smiled an open mouth smile.  Her eyes were full of Serpent Shadows.

“I’m a pirate,” Kraken said.  “I do what I want, when I want.”  He stood.  His black staff thumped the table.  “I am Captain.  Haven is my ship.  Here I rule.  My word is law.”  The staff thumped the table.  “I will suffer no mutiny.  If you want to challenge me come to me with your weapon in hand.  I’ll brook no impugnment of my intentions.”  Kraken drug the word out.  The staff thumped the table and it collapsed.  “Am I clear?”

The men glanced to each other and shifted in the chairs.

“So, is that a yes?” Gabb asked.

Kraken gathered his power and faced Gabb.

Cousin laughed.  She laughed until tears came from her eyes, and she had to sit.  Everyone turned to her.  She sniffled and chocked on the laughter.  She stood up, and walked to the door.  Turning, she looked Kraken in the eye.  “Why is it, that no one ever thinks to ask if the woman’s intentions are honorable?”

Drake and Jones were close enough to see the people on their ships.  Jones sent a message by flag: “Pretty Bird.”  The flags whorled the words over and over again.  Jones stood next to the flagman and laughed.  He held up a small bird cage and waved it like a lantern in the night.

Drake shouted something to Jones and Jones laughed harder.  Drake wasn’t laughing.  His stone stare was hard and cold.  Death rode with him.  Even from the distance it could be seen on his face.  A woman in yellow silk stood next to him.  A chain from her neck to Drake’s wrist hung slack.

Cousin looked into the eyes of the woman.  She could feel the spell form around her and the charm at her neck react.  A shimmer raced over the woman’s glazed eyes then was gone.  A harsher spell was directed at her to the same result.

The ships attempted to flank Haven.  Pirates shouted challenges and taunts.

Cousin joined Kraken on deck.  “Permission to board Drake,” she said.

“The boys would kill me if I let you go.  No.  We’re set up to fight here.”

The enemy closed distance.

“Permission to sink one, Captain.”

“Why so antsy?”

“Just ready to kill someone.”

Kraken laughed long and loud.  His crew gave attention.  A flaming arrow hit the deck and went out.  Kraken raised his voice.  “Our Cousin is ready to kill!  Shall we join her?”

“Aye,” thundered over the ocean like a shock wave.  The enemy stilled a moment, and felt the conviction of the Kraken Pirates in their stomachs.  Then the three ships were aligned.

Grappling ropes were flung and hooks set.  Cousin bounced on her feet.

“Gabb!  Go with Cousin!”

“Aye!”

Cousin launched herself onto Drake’s ship.  She carved a path through to the bow.  On a distant level she knew Gabb was with her.  She didn’t stop until she reached the woman.

Drake faced her with swords drawn.  His eyes were black and unseeing.  “Nice of you to join me,” a woman’s voice came from Drake’s mouth.  “Now we can take you home.”

“I am home.”

Later, Gabb wouldn’t be able to explain what he saw.  One moment they faced a Drake Puppet and an Al’Ri Hunter, then Cousin had her hand buried in the Hunter’s chest.  Quicksilver flowed over the Al’Ri, and Drake collapsed on the deck.  Cousin stood alone, two bodies at her feet.

“Back home,” Cousin said.  She and Gabb cut the ropes connecting Drake’s ship to Haven on the way over.  They joined the fray with battle cries.

The Sor-von sang with Cousin’s dance.  She killed all enemies.  She healed wounded family when she found them.  And she gloried in battle, fighting hand to hand without using her power.  Through the soul of Haven she knew where all her family were, and how they faired in the battle.  Cousin lost herself in her dance.

Drake’s ship drifted away, and those of his crew not slain panicked into jumping over.

A loud explosion rocked the ships, and the grappling ropes to Jones’ ship snapped.  Jones’ ship broke into two halves, and sank in a fury of boiling ocean.

Kraken stood with his black staff resting on his shoulder.  He watched the result of his actions with indifference.  “Push them all over board,” he called.  “Give no aid.  No mercy.”

Jones Bone stood still watching his ship go down.  “All that treasure.”  Around him the battle was coming to a slow close.  The remainder of his men on deck were killed or forced over.

Kraken held his place by the bulwark.  He looked for each member of his crew in turn.  All were there.  Cousin moved around healing the wounded.  Several had severe damage.  He left her to it.  He found Gabb near Jones.  Kraken raised his staff, and motioned Gabb to bring the old pirate.

Jones let himself be prodded forward.  He unbuckled the small bird cage at his belt.  Waving it in front of him, he approached Kraken.  “Bad, Pretty Bird, bad.  I’ll have to teach you a lesson, Pretty Bird.”  Jones swung the cage, and hit Kraken on the arm.  The open cage door squeaked with protest.  Jones blinked at the empty cage, his mouth open.  He swung it again and again hitting Kraken on the arm.  Each time he blinked and stared.

Kraken let the mad pirate swing the cage over and over.  The charm at his neck gained more power with each hit.  He stood stone faced and impassive.

Finally, Jones Bone grasped the cage with both hands and shook it.  “Damned thing worked yesterday!”  A crazed expression contorted his face.

“Such magic will not work here,” Kraken said.

Jones threw the cage at Kraken, and drew his blade.  The wild swing met the black staff, and the sword shattered.  Jones stumbled back.  He found himself surrounded.  He raised his hands and laughed like a loon.  “Pretty Bird!  Pretty Bird!”

“One chance,” Kraken said.  “Tell me all you know about the bounty on me and mine.  Who is hunting us?”

Jones Bone sucked in a great breath and screamed: “Now!”

Nothing happened.

Jones looked around.  He blinked and started another breath.

Cousin strode up.  She held up the heads of five men by the hair.  She dropped them at Jones’ feet.  “There are three more below.  They can do no harm.”

Kraken nodded.  “Speak now Jones or swim.”

Jones gathered the heads of his men and the cage.  Laughing, he jumped overboard.

Gabb opened the door and let Cousin and Kor into the cell.  The ward spanned the door way shimmering in the space.  Cousin started handing Kor several different weapons.  She talked about the type of enchantment, and who she thought could use it.  Kor added his insight and before long they had gathered twenty weapons.

Gabb locked the door.  “Not exactly what I thought you meant.  This is better I think.”

Kor and Cousin laid out the weapons in the galley.  Kor looked each piece over, as Cousin watched.  Gabb leaned against a wall his arms crossed over his chest.  He eyed a set of short handled hatchets with elaborate scrolls carved into the blades.  Kor muttered to himself and walked around the tables one last time.

“Quit your lusting and see if those hatchets work for you,” Kor said to Gabb.  “Then send the rest down a few at a time.”

Gabb grasped the handles and swung the weapons in slow arcs, rotating his wrists.  The blades made a low singing sound.  Gabb gave a Death Smile.  “Perfect.”

Kraken brought in a platter of meat and biscuits.  He stopped and looked at the woman staring out the windows.  Her reflection was a phantom floating in the glass.  It made her changed appearance all the more noticeable.

The crew had gathered to confront him about it.  Kor accused him of pushing Cousin too hard.  Jak said he wasn’t feeding her enough with the amount of work he made her do.  Stephen said he was using her affections against her.  Bry called him no better than a slaver.  Kraken was met by fourteen men, all complaining and accusing and refusing to disburse until he said he was after food for Cousin.  Looking at the changes in her form he wondered if the crew were right.  Had he asked too much?

“No.  You haven’t asked too much,” Cousin said.  “Sorry about the mutiny.”

Kraken put the platter on the table.  “Eat.”

Cousin turned to look at her Captain.  She moved to sit on the desk next to him.  She put her hand on his newly shaved check.  The smooth skin was firm under her fingers.  Pulling him in front of her with gentle pressure on his arm, she looked up into ocean eyes.  Her lips brushed Kraken’s.

Kraken froze at the first touch of Cousin’s lips, lips that felt exactly the same as before.  Then his arms were around her holding her to him.  His tongue brushed her lips and she opened her mouth.  Their tongues met and danced around each other.  Kraken slanted his mouth over Cousin’s closing the last distance between them.  Kraken cupped the back of Cousin’s neck.

Cousin wrapped her legs around Kraken’s legs.  Her arms wrapped his torso.  She ran her hands over his hard muscled back.

Then Kraken pulled back.  He put his check against hers.  He gave a low growl of frustration and resignation.

Cousin heard the knock.  She refused to release Kraken.  Rubbing her check on his, she leaned into him.

Kraken sighed.  “Come.”

Gabb walked in with another platter of food.  “Oh,” he said, shutting the door behind him quickly.  Several voices cursed from the other side.  “Reporting visual on ships pursuing.”

“Ships?”

Aye, Captain.  The one I sensed is Jones Bone.  The other -“

”Let me guess,” Kraken said.  “Drake.”

Gabb nodded.  “I can see it.  Still can’t feel it.  Whatever his men used, it’s working on the ship as well.”

Kraken closed his eyes and rubbed his check on Cousin’s.  She was his.  They couldn’t have her.

“Mine,” Cousin whispered in his ear.  “My Kraken.  My Gabb.  My family.  My home.  They won’t harm what is mine.”

Kraken breathed deep the smell of Cousin’s hair, skin, clothes.  “To the Bottom with them then.”
Kraken put her hands from him and stepped back out of her clasping legs.  “Eat,” he said brushing a thumb over Cousin’s lips.

Cousin watched Kraken and Gabb go.   She picked up the platter and went to stand at the windows.  She watched the twin dark spots on the horizon.  A flowing current drove those ships.  It hummed up through her feet and settled in her legs.  Al’Ri charms using obscure runes.

Cousin ate and let her memory drift back.  The meat filled her belly and fueled her body while books so old only magic kept them from turning to dust filled her mind.  Protector’s lessons of lost arts and ancient powers only few could tap came as if she had never forgot them.  The years spent mastering those lessons were now.

Cousin felt into her Depth.  Other lessons flooded back.  Ways of directing power using form and technique.  The signatures that power develops through limit, type and use.  Forty years of lessons.  All returned.

Cousin let her thoughts drift back to the reflection in the window.  Eating connected her to the body she wore.  Keeping it was a subtle drain on her endurance now that she wasn’t locked inside it.  It had grown around her in many years of sorrow.  It had also brought her home.

The twin dots were now twin ships.  They would reach them within the hour.  Two crews.  Each more than twice the size of the Kraken Pirates.  Cousin’s thoughts turned to the stash of enchanted weapons.  A few of those could be used.  She went to talk to Kraken about it.

Cousin blinked in the light of mid-day.  The crew made ready to be boarded.  Trips and traps were laid.  Weapons were being sharpened.  Archers were filling quivers and fastening them to the masts.  Gabb strode to and fro triple checking the progress and giving orders.  No one slacked.

The men stopped when they saw cousin.  She smiled and held up the empty platter.  “No worries,” she said.  “I’m good to go.”

Kor walked up and looked her over.  “Don’t you lie to me, missy.  I won’t stand for it.”

Cousin laughed.  “I’ll last longer than you.”

Kor grunted, and went back to his work.

Cousin caught Gabb’s eye and shrugged.  He pointed up and shook his head.  She threw the platter like a discus and bounded up the ropes before she saw Gabb catch it in front of his face.

“Permission to come up,” Cousin said at the crow’s hatch.

“Come,” Kraken said.  He used his spyglass to view the ships.  “Jones and Drake are using a speeder spell.  You ready to fight?”

“Yes.  But . . .”

“No buts.”  Kraken looked at her.

“I think we can use some of the enchanted weapons.  They could give us an unexpected edge.”

“The ward would be down.  Their wielders may sense them.”

“No,” Cousin said.  “I won’t allow that.”

Cousin spent the next hour in Kraken’s cabin writing out personalized protection charms for the crew designed to absorb any and all hostile energy used against them, then redirect it at the will of the owner.

Kraken called each man in one at a time to receive his charm, papers locked into a small bottle on a cord.  Gabb came last to get his.  He took it, kissed Cousin on the check and went out without a word.

Kraken laughed until Cousin slipped the cord of his charm over his head.  He looked at the little bottle with its scrap of paper.  “It doesn’t feel like anything.”

Cousin nodded.  “Wasn’t that the idea?”

“Make yours, then we’ll talk about the ship.  I’ll get you some food.”

Cousin watched Kraken go then moved to the mirror.  Her face had become thinner.  Her skin was more luminescent.  Her eyes looked bigger and her ears pointed ever so slightly.  “I look like one of them,” she said to her reflection.  “One of the Masters.”  She returned to the desk and wrote her charm with a blank mind.  She folded the paper and put it in the bottle.  Sliding the cord over her neck, she smiled.  No matter her look she was home.