Read Crossroads 04 - The Dragon Isles for Free Online Page A

carefully maneuver the blue woman off the raft and
into the longboat. The captain and the kender then scrambled aboard, and they
all quickly returned to Kingfisher.
                 Using
some spare sail cloth as a sling, they hoisted the castaway up to Kingfisher’s deck and gently laid her
down.
                 “She’s
blue!” Bok blurted.
                 “Well,
she’s a sea elf,” Mik replied. “They’re common enough in these waters—though
seldom seen.”
                 Karista
Meinor frowned. “She’s badly sunburned—almost purple,” the noblewoman said. “I
doubt she’ll survive.”
                 “I’ve
some sunburn oils in my cabin that may help,” Mik said. “If we can tend the
bums and get some water into her, she may make it. Elves are hard to kill.”
                 “Who
could have left her like that?” Bok asked rhetorically. “She’s so beautiful.”
                 “Bah!
You were right earlier, bodyguard,” Pamak said. “A sea elf, shipwrecked? Tied
to a raft? I repeat , she’s a bad omen. We should throw
her back to the fishes.” A number of other sailors grumbled their agreement.
                 “Whoever
did this to her, didn’t want her with the fishes,” Karista noted. “They wanted
her to die stretched out like a skinned animal.”
                 “We’ll
worry about how and why she came to be on the raft later,” Mik said. “For now,
take her to my cabin. I’ll tend her burns. Trip, bring more fresh water.”
                 “Aye,
captain,” the kender replied. Trip fetched several more waterskins while the
crew gingerly carried the castaway into Mik’s cabin below the bridge.
                 The
captain set up a canvas pallet in the comer opposite his hammock and they laid
the sea elf s unconscious body on it. Mik and Trip knelt down at her side.
Karista, Bok, and a number of other crew members waited at the doorway.
                 “Do
you have any magic that could help?” Mik asked Karista.
                 “I
have some remedies to relieve fever,” she replied. “I don’t know how effective
they’ll be, though. I’ll fetch the herbs I need from my cabin.”
                 “Have
the helmsman resume our previous course,” Mik said to Bok.
                 The
big bodyguard peeled his eyes away from the elf, nodded, and went to do as Mik
asked.
                 “Clear
the cabin,” Mik said, indicating everyone else should leave. The fascinated
crew members went back to their jobs as Mik and Trip tended to the castaway’s
injuries.
                 Mik
gently massaged fragrant oils into the elf s blue skin. When she finally
groaned slightly, Trip put the waterskin to her lips and made her drink. As she
did, the kender eyed the glittering jewelry holding her scant costume together.
                 “No
borrowing, Trip,” Mik cautioned. “We wouldn’t want her to forfeit her modesty.”
                 The
kender laughed, and reluctantly tore his eyes away from her jewelry.
                 Karista
returned shortly with a silver brazier filled with burning herbs. She chanted
and made passes with her hands over the injured woman—but none of them saw any
obvious effect.
                The aristocrat shook her head. “The
magic does not work as reliably as it once did,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
                 Mik
stood and stretched. “You did your best,” he said. “We all have. There’s
nothing more we can do for her now. Undisturbed rest is probably her best
chance at recovery. Besides, we have work to do. Saving this poor girl cost us
valuable time. It’ll take keen sailing to reach the proper coordinates by the
time Paladine’s constellation rises tonight.”
                 “But
shouldn’t we change her sunburn