Queen Elizabeth 1.5 told me about Ravenna. What I took away from her lesson other than the fact that lobsters are very scary when they're not being served to you in a restaurant as seafood was that Ravenna and her army of deadly ravens had been under the wing and command of the Coven Thirteen throughout the history of their rule in Lakoswanion. So now that the Coven had been overthrown and Rasthrum had formed a new democratic congress for the City Of A Hundred Haunts, Ravenna wanted to usurp the Grahi Witch's throne for herself. Speculation was, she had had her eye on it for years, and this was her shot.
Her ravens and goons had been wrecking havoc all over the enchanted city, and had apparently abducted/imprisoned Rasthrum and even slaughtered two other founding members of the congress. Some dared to protest. They were eliminated. Others surrendered to their fates. They lived a life of fear.
Ravenna's troupes hadn't even left the underwater community alone. If these poor peeps had had an Arthur Fleck a.k.a Aquaman (you know how I know, right? Same way I know about all things pop-culture), he'd have fought back for them. But these were simple folk, scary-looking or not, and when they got to know I was actually here to help defeat Ravenna, they were all overjoyed. The haughty batfish Earl of Bersexent apologized to me extensively for his rudeness. They fed me some unblemished edible pearls, clothed me in a flexible dress made of this golden water-proof material extracted from "mermaid faeces", and gave me some bottles of fresh water fit for consumption.
Oh, and a tilapia fish – they’re medicinal – needed my broken tibia-fibula in one painful but miraculous blow of water.
Not to mention the boat.
And not the boat we had used the last time we had been here. I don't even know what happened to that one.
This boat was way bigger, and the correct term for it is not a boat at all but a schooner. A kind of sailing vessel, you know, which is really hard to operate. But this one was magical or something, because I didn't need to do anything except think where I want to go, whether I want it to speed, slow or stop, so forth, and it would do that.
I'll admit, I was tentative at first because my thoughts putter around a lot, but it was easier than expected. Soon the Hatchetfishes with teal spears started rotating in a circle around me, and a whirlpool of sorts propelled me and the schooner to the surface of the lake.
None of them could accompany me to Lakoswanion, however, since they can't breath outside of water. But the lobster queen did send a couple of red-blue fishes with pointy white contraptions and scales with me, to keep an eye on me and protect me if they could. She must've known from the expression on my face that I didn't understand how these would help me defend myself, so she explained to me that these were 'red lionfishes,' and they were venomous, and they could bite.
Which was a small relief, but a relief nonetheless, and all the relief I could have at the time was priceless and most welcome.
'On!' I said to the schooner, and it zipped at the speed of protons in a particle accelerator, so I had to chant 'Slow down, slow down, slow down' to make it move at a normal pace.
The sky was black as ink, and other than the occasional clicking of pincers or hooting of owls or squealing of squirrels and other nightmarish creatures, or the crunching of shifting, shuffling trees, there weren't any noises either. It was pretty much quiet. An environment I could study in, unlike the apartment in {Undis-2-closed} where my rock-n-roll neighbors won't spare me a moment of peace. The lake reeked as per usual. If it had not stank, and I had a book, this would have made for some nice reading time. The red lionfishes followed me undersurface.
I found myself missing my friends, and at one point my wandering thoughts and focus almost caused the schooner's prow to dip many meters into the lake, before I managed to steady it. Stabilized my mind. Put an impervious wall around it so no dark thought could invade.
But then instead my heart began to think, and wonder, and worry.
When rational people admit their heart has taken over their brain, you know they're human.
YOU ARE READING
Sort of Deadly
Humor*Sequel to 'Sort Of Dead'* *Kindly read the previous installment beforehand* ~ "You know the feeling when you see a glass jar filled with perfectly round, colorful marbles, and you just want to put one - or two, or three - in your mouth, even though...
