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aboard. Riel transported
herself as soon as she saw that her mistress was safe.
    Adesina was hauled to her feet by a
burly man with skin the color of rich earth. He locked her in a crushing
embrace and said in a deep voice, “The Zephyr welcomes you, Mistress
Adesina.”
    “Thank you, Captain Zulimar.”
    A proper reunion between Adesina
and the friends she had met on her voyage to Zonne would have to wait. The
captain hurried off to lead his crew in the desperate escape from the aekuor.
    A small man—no more than three and
a half feet tall, with wild brown hair and sun-weathered skin—came running by.
Satosh flashed a wicked smile at her as he passed. “It seems you bring danger
in your wake, Adesina.”
    She smiled in return, but did not
stop him with a reply. She knew that he was busy trying to save their lives,
and her own mind was racing for some solution to this danger. After all, Ravi
could not risk his life again to save them, as he had the last time they had
faced an aekuor.
    It might be easier now that you
are a Serraf.
    Adesina shook her head adamantly. I
am not willing to take that chance.
    The young woman’s Immortal
companions crowded around her.
    “What have you done?” hissed Ruon.
“You attacked our ally!”
    Adesina’s brow furrowed in
confusion. “What are you talking about? The aekuor would just as soon kill us
as look at us!”
    “Humans, perhaps,” spat Ruon in
disgust, “but she would not attack us . She is one of the Children of the
Night.”
    “You mean that aekuor is an
Immortal?” Adesina asked incredulously.
    “Yes,” answered Sitara with a
distressed tone of voice. “Like your Serraf ancestors, there were certain
Immortals left in this world. The Aekuor were among them.”
    Adesina was dumbfounded. “But…the
aekuor attack every ship they come across!”
    Ruon’s eyes were cold and bitter.
“Perhaps they have a reason for doing so.”
    “Perhaps you can reason with the
Aekuor,” suggested Ravi. “Ma’eve did not injure her greatly. It was only meant
to scare her away.”
    Ruon made a sweeping gesture at the
members of the ship’s crew with his long, thin hand. “What about them?”
    “I will ask them to stop,” said
Adesina.
    The Laithur still looked furious at
the entire situation, but he gave a sharp nod. “Very well. I will try to
explain to her why she was treated with such unmerited violence.”
    Adesina ran across the deck to
where Captain Zulimar was standing, shouting orders to the crew. She placed a
hand on his arm to get his attention. “Captain, you need to stop your attacks
on the aekuor.”
    He barely spared her a glance. “We
are not attacking it. We are distracting it in the hope that we can escape.”
    She tightened her grip on his arm.
“Please, Captain! I have someone with me who thinks he can send the aekuor
away, but we need all to be still.”
    Zulimar turned his dark eyes on her
face as he weighed her words. “You have saved our lives before. Can you swear
to me that you will do so again?”
    Adesina did not allow herself to
feel any doubt. “I swear to you that no one will die today.”
    Her promise was enough for the
captain. He began shouting orders, and the men launching the barrels of
explosives slowed to a stop.
    Ruon’s sinuous form made its way to
the railing on the side of the ship that faced the sea monster. He raised both
arms in the air and emitted a piercing whistle.
    The aekuor rose from the water,
rearing like a snake about to strike. Its mouth opened, baring rows of jagged
teeth, and it shrieked so loudly the air seemed to tremble. Ruon whistled
again, and the aekuor hesitated.
    Ruon proceeded to make a series of
high-pitched sounds, using his arms to gesture in flowing motions. At first it
seemed like the aekuor was listening to what the Laithur said, but it began to
swing its head back and forth, as if trying to shake off what it was hearing.
    Ruon’s motions became more
pleading, but to no avail. The aekuor shrieked