Tales of the Pearly Kingdom (Pearly Tales Vol. 2)

16. Forbidden Magic

Standing at the dock was a redhead standing with one of the new nobles, the Lamia Queen, Elsdith. The same perverted queen that hit on Cal every time they saw each other. Clera stood nearby with a group of elven elite royal guard and a contingent of heavily armed soldiers. And lastly, the unusual sight of two dozen neatly dressed elite nymph sailors from the royal navy armed with sabers and some long harpoon crossbow hybrids. They were led by Tiki in an officer's uniform with a trident and an array of knives all over her multilayered skirts.

Loca was holding hands with Ophelia like they were best friends. Half of the time they were walking Loca wouldn't shut up. Loca was telling her all about the L. Craft Nightmare and horror stories about fighting pirates. She had amassed a ton of first and secondhand accounts of the pirate crew's escapades.

Ophelia had a mix of emotions on her face. She was hesitant to be so close to Loca, happy that she had a friend, anxious about the horror stories, worried about the questions about her dark prophecies, and excited to see mommy.

Shayley's burst into a smile when she saw Ophelia and Cal.

She bent down to greet Ophelia and Loacoda.

"Hey baby girl, and Lil Loca."

"I'm not little!" Loca shouted.

Gerald grabbed her by collar and lifted her an inch off the ground like a drowned puppy.

"Loacoda, speak with respect toward the Queen."

"Queen? I thought she was the princess?" Loca asked.

Shayley giggled. "It's okay Gerald, she's just a child. And any friend of Ophelia is a friend of mine."

Gerald grimaced as Shayley patted Loca, whose eyes were filled with hero worship as her father put it down. Then she held her arms out for Ophelia who hopped into her arms.

Shayley stood up with Ophelia in her arms and looked at Cal.

"Guildmaster, it's always a pleasure."

"Your Majesty, your beauty and grace are as radiant as always." He bowed.

"Flattery will get you nowhere today. I believe we have business." She smiled and looked over the pirate crew that Cal brought along. "Between, mine and yours are you expecting trouble?"

"I'm always expecting trouble." Cal smiled. "If I read the logs right, she'll have been at the bottom of the ocean since I last sailed her. I'm not quite sure who we will have to evict when it is summoned. Or the moods of those following her to the dock."

"You can summon a ship?" Shayley asked.

"She's not just a ship, love. She's freedom." Cal looked at the Ocean and he stood on one foot made a cone with his hands over his mouth and made a bird call. "Caw-caw Caw-caw!" Then he put his hands on his hips and stared at the ocean with a big grin on his face.

"""..."""

Everyone stared at him.

"Captain?" Kadoka squeaked after a long moment.

"Yes, First mate?" Cal answered.

"Is that really how you summon the Nightmare?"

"... Nope." Cal grinned as a ship emerged on the horizon.

"Eh? Then how...?"

Cal reached into his shirt and pulled out a small vial that looked like a gemstone at a certain distance away, with glowing red liquid and a floating black crystal that looked like it spinning in place.

"Captain, what is that?" Kadoka asked.

"That's a black soul stone inside of blood phylactery." Elsdith crossed her arms. "Guildmaster, that's extremely dark magic."

"Very observant, Elsdith. I'm impressed." Cal said. "Pour just enough mana into this baby, issue a command, and they will be compelled to act. That's why she's more than just a ship."

"Guildmaster, just holding that thing is a sin." Elsdith growled.

"I know. I guess you could say that I wasn't a pure child. Far from it." He looked out at the sea expectantly. "It cost an arm and a leg to make, too."

"Whose soul is in there, whose blood is that? Guildmaster what did you do?" Elsdith accused while the end of her tail whipped aggressively.

"The forgotten goddess of the ocean, the daughter of the god of the sky and the goddess of the waves, Ellysienaglfar. And the blood is a mixture of mine, the kraken, the leviathan, fifteen dead men, and teardrops from the sun god, the moon god, and a dozen mermaids. This glass was blown from sand and diamond from the ocean floor." He looked at Elsdith. "So what did I do? I granted a wish."

"What wish?" She looked confused.

"I became her friend, so that she wouldn't remain forgotten. All Ellysienaglfar ever wanted was to be remembered. So I bound her soul to this stone that I take with me everywhere, while her body roams the waves. She's a dear friend and a fearsome ally."

Elsdith still glowered.

Cal responded to her glare with his own slightly accusatory tone. "You kidnapped and raped people. I bound a goddess with a curse, which is the least of my transgressions. But now both of us are trying to make things better. Don't judge me because my sins are different than yours. Maybe you should talk to her before you judge. Besides she's so shy until you get to know her, the only way to get anyone on board is that you have to nail her down with a little bit of force."

"She's shy? Mother never told me that." Loca tilted her head.

"Painfully shy. It's men she doesn't really like at first. But she loves kids, and she loves to cuddle. Huh?" Cal looked out at the sea. "... that's not good, EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM THE DOCK!" He rolled up his sleeves and stood in front at the end of the pier. He bent his knees and braced himself like he was going to catch a giant dodgeball.

The large grey black ship with coarse tattered black sails cut through the currents at an impossible speed.

"Cal, What the hell are you doing!" Shayley screamed while running away with Ophelia.

"Someone's got to say, hello." He smirked.