Riss Cobalt, sorceress supreme, takes on a sea monster in this short adventure taking place before the Kismet and Tell novel
Gone Fishin’:
An Early Adventure in Sorcery
I strolled along the streets of Easton late that morning. I had taken out a band of bandits earlier that morning, not far from the city, and had helped myself to their little bit of treasure as my reward afterwards. With my leather money purse once again bulging with gold pieces, I had decided to celebrate my good fortune by going into Easton and treating myself to dinner. There was one dish that I had always wanted to try, and now I had the money to do so. See, the city of Easton has a restaurant that is famous all over Andor for one particular dish of theirs, Settatai Swordfish Souffle a’ La Flambe. The restaurant and dish are almost as famous as I am. Of course, THEY have a good reputation, and I have a bad one. But hey, at least I’m famous. Being known as a ruthless, tempermental, mercenary sorceress has its perks. No one intentionally messes with me because they don’t want to get hurt. And since I’m the only person in the whole world with blue hair, I’m recognized on sight.
Well, I entered the city and spent the first hour sightseeing. While I took in the sights of the port city, I found myself being pleasantly amused by the looks of fear on the faces of the people who saw me coming. I laughed heartily at the way they hurriedly got out of my way, not wanting to be anywhere near me in case I lost my temper for some reason. And I marveled at the scenic view of the marble spires of the castle of the city’s lord jutting up into the blue sky and glinting in the sunlight. Then, as I toured the docks, I finally found the place I wanted.
The place was called Moray’s Tavern, but it’s actually a nice little restaurant. It sat not too far from the piers, giving the customers a pleasant veiw of the Alotha Ocean as they ate. As I entered, a waiter saw me and instantly came running up to me. He bowed to me and handed me a menu, saying, “Miss Marissa Cobalt, how nice of you to grace us with your presence. Please, allow me to escort you to one of our nicer tables.”
I nodded and followed him to a table beside a window that had a terrific view of the ocean. A few ships and sailboats far out at sea dotted the sparkling blue water. Gulls flew high up, little more than white dots against the blue sky, a few diving towards the water now and then. A very peaceful setting. The waiter stood beside me patiently as I gazed at the ocean scene for a couple of minutes before turning my attention to the menu. I just glanced over the menu briefly, since I already knew what I wanted.
“I’d like the Settatai Swordfish Souffle a’ La Flambe,” I said. “And a mug of your finest ale.”
A funny look crossed the waiter’s face, then he bowed. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. But I noticed an odd tone to his voice. Something was wrong. I could tell. “I’ll take your order directly to the chef,” the waiter said, and promptly left me, leaving me to wonder what was going on.
Less than five minutes later, the plump chef himself approached me. “Miss Marissa,” he said with a somber tone to his deep voice. “I am so sorry. Please, do not get angry with me or my restaurant’s staff.”
My big blue eyes narrowed threateningly. “Either tell me what’s wrong, or I WILL get angry with you.”
“Well, Miss Marissa, you see, it’s like this.”
“Like what?” I almost growled, quickly losing my temper at the delay.
“Well, you see….”
“No, I don’t see!” I yelled. “Spit it out all ready!”
“We don’t have any Settatai Swordfish. So I cannot make your souffle.”
In an instant my chair was vacated as I left it to take a standing position directly in front of the chef. I grabbed him by the collar of his white shirt and jerked his face down in front of mine. His white chef’s hat fell to the floor. “WHAT??????” I angrily screamed directly in his face.
Overcome by fear, his eyes widened and his face drained of all color. “W…we don’t have any Settatai, ma’am,” he said again.
“Why not?” I growled out. “The souffle’s the one dish you are most famous for. You should always have some Settatai on hand for it. Why don’t you?”
“Well, we haven’t been able to catch any Settatai lately. And not just my staff, but any of the city’s fishermen.”
“Why?”
“I have not seen this myself, but rumor says there is a sea monster. It attacks the ships that go fishing in the area where the Settatai are.”
“Rumor has it?”
“That’s right. All the fishermen who go out to catch Settatai say they have been scared off by a giant sea monster.”
My eyes unnarrowed as my curiosity was piqued. “Hmmmm…Looks like I’ll have to go check this story out for myself, if I want to have my Settatai Swordfish Souffle.”
“Miss Marissa? You will? I would be ever so much indebted to you if you could deal with this sea monster so I can once again make my souffle.”
A hint of greed entered my voice and I loosened my hold on the chef. “Indebted to me? Really? How so?”
“Yes. If you can get rid of the sea monster and restore the fishing of Settatai, I will make you the best Settatai Swordfish Souffle a’ La Flambe you ever had, free of charge.”
My eyes widened and I smiled at the prospect of free food. “Really?? Then you just hired yourself a mercenary sorceress, chef! I’ll have you some Settatai in no time!”
I let go of the chef and dashed out of the restaurant.
I ran down the street to the piers and started my investigation. I approached a docked fishing boat. It looked abandoned at first, but as I got closer I saw that I was mistaken. Lying in the bottom of the boat, empty bottles of ale tipped over beside them, were three scraggly-looking fishermen. One was an old man, another was a brown-haired man who looked to be in early forties, and the third was a brown-haired man not more than twenty. They slept the sound sleep of drunks. I stood against the bow of the ship and stared down at them, shaking my head sadly. From the look of their ragged clothes, it looked like they had fallen on hard times. But that’s still no excuse for them to get so drunk. I thought, I may have just gotten lucky, if they are some of the fishermen who can’t catch Settatai anymore. But I can’t talk to them in the state that they’re in. I need to wake them up and sober them up fast.
I smiled mischievously at an idea. The spell’s runes flashed in my mind.
“Earth and Air,” I chanted softly, “grant me your power and gather it in my hands. Dagger Bolt Shock!” I threw three mild bolts of lightning into the sleeping drunks. Their bodies spasmed slightly, and their eyes snapped open and they screamed a little from the pain.
The old man sat up first, still somewhat groggy. Then the other two sat up. They weren’t quite as groggy as the old man. “What’s going on?” asked the older of the two. “What happened, Laim? Father?”
“I…I don’t know, Bronus,” the old man said.
The younger man, Laim, didn’t answer. He just stared at me, struck silent by fear.
“Laim?” Bronus asked. “Did you hear me, son?” He turned to his son, and saw me standing at the bow of the boat. His mouth hung open for a second. “Ma….Marissa Cobalt!” he finally managed to say. “Wha…What…”
“I require your assistance,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Y...yes, ma’am,” Bronus said, quickly scrambling up. Laim and the old man followed his lead. “How may we help you, Miss Marissa?”
“Tell me, have you seen the sea monster that rumor talks about?”
“Seen it?” Bronus said. “I’ll say we’ve seen it! It attacked us! We barely mananged to escape in one piece!”
“When was this?”
“About a month ago,” Laim said. “We’ve been too scared to go back out.”
“And without Settatai,” the old man said, “we’ve barely been able to make a living. That sea monster is ruining the economy! All the Settatai fishermen have had to switch to fishing for other types of fish, thereby swamping the market with those fish. But the demand for those fish just isn’t there. We’re barely able to sell any fish at all, and what we do sell we have to sell at such a low price….”
“Take me there,” I said. “I’ll stop the sea monster and restore the fishing of Settatai.”
The three men looked at each other. Laim shrugged. “What could it hurt?” he said. “If anyone can kill the sea monster, Marissa Cobalt can.”
The other two nodded.
“Hop aboard, Miss Marissa,” Bronus said.
I climbed inside, being careful not to step on an ale bottle. Laim undid the moorings, Bronus raised the sail, and I cast a small Wind Burst spell to get us moving. We pulled away from the pier.
About half an hour later, Bronus lowered the sail. “Ok. We were in this area when the sea monster attacked.”
“How long had you been out here before it attacked you?” I asked.
“Not long,” the old man said. “We had only been fishing for about an hour. Others have said they were attacked as soon as they arrived. And still others say they weren’t attacked until they were about to leave. So I guess it just depends.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I said. “So we could be out here for how long?”
“Until the sun sets. We’re usually out here all day.”
“That long….” I said, suddenly realizing that I hadn’t had anything to eat yet, and hadn’t brought any food along with me. I forced myself to perk up. I have an image to maintain, after all. “Well, I guess we can do some fishing while we’re waiting. Who knows, it may not show up at all.”
The three men agreed and tossed out their fishing nets. But they hadn’t been fishing for even an hour before the boat started rocking roughly.
“Wha…what’s going on?!” I asked, grabbing hold of the edge of the boat. My eyes were wide with fear. I didn’t want to get tossed into the water. I can’t swim!
“The monster!” Laim said. “It…it’s coming!”
The men quickly pulled in their nets.
Then the monster made its appearance – right beside our starboard side! It looked like a huge blob of clear slime floating on the surface of the clear blue ocean. I could barely make out tentacles hanging below it in the water.
Hmph. Some sea monster. It’s a giant jellyfish!
My “companions” took one look at the jellyfish, screamed, and cowered in the center of the boat.
I rolled my eyes and heaved a huge sigh. Looks like it’s up to me to do this myself.
I stepped up to the side of the boat and started chanting. The jellyfish saw me and lifted a tentacle from the water. Before I could finish my spell, the tentacle snaked towards me. I stopped chanting and drew my shortsword. I swung the sword at the tentacle, but the appendage dodged my blade and wrapped itself around my waist.
“AAAAAHHH!” I screamed as I was lifted up.
I swung my sword again at the tentacle, and managed to cut it. The tentacle released me, and I fell to the bottom of the boat, landing in an uncermonious heap. Really angry now, I clambered up.
“All right!” I yelled. “That does it! No more Miss Nice Girl! You’re history, jellyfish!”
The emerald on my gold circlet glowed and I pointed at the jellyfish. “Raze Blast!”
An explosion beneath the jellyfish sent it flying up into the air in a column of ocean water. Fish and ocean water rained down around me as I quickly cast another spell. A ball of fire formed in my gloved hand and I tossed it up at the jellyfish as I called out the activation word, “FIREBALL!”
The Fireball struck the jellyfish and exploded. Chunks of burnt jellyfish fell to the ocean, and some landed in the boat. I heaved a sigh of satisfaction and turned to my cowering companions.
“Mission accomplished,” I told them. “Time to go home.”
Standing and staring at me in awe, they nodded and set about getting the ship home.
When we returned to port, the three fishermen thanked me profusely and allowed me to take a couple of the hundreds of Settatai Swordfish that hand rained down into the boat. With my reward in hand, I returned to the restaurant. I gave the chef the two Settatai and told him what had happened and told him where to find the three fishermen who had all the Settatai I had caught. He sent a staff member to go buy some from them and told me to take a seat while he fixed my souffle for me.
I took a seat at the table I had been at earlier. While I waited, I felt a small tingle go down my back. I groaned and reached into the magic pocket inside my little brown cloak. I pulled out a small globe. It was blinking a blue light. I groaned and replaced the globe. They always know the worst time to summon me. Well, whatever the lords of Westover want me to do for them this time will just have to wait. I am NOT missing out on Settatai Swordfish Souffle a’ La Flambe, especially since it’s FREE!
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