The Blue Nixie was supposed to be docked at pier five. Which was why it was so surprising to find that it was actually moored to a float in the middle of the harbor instead.
"Great. That's great. How is Snickers supposed to get all the way out there?" said Liona.
"Hey!" said Snickers.
"I don't think it's great at all. I was hoping Snickers could come with us," added Kala thoughtfully.
Snickers was the only one of us who might have trouble swimming out that far. I mean, I'm not a good swimmer either, but I knew we were going onto a boat, so I spent an hour that morning reshaping my shock gloves into a pair of sandals that would let me walk on water. It left me without any magical offense, but it was better than drowning if I got knocked overboard, and while I wasn't great with weapons, I could at least stick someone with the pointy end of a spear. Liona was a natural swimmer—apparently she had some ancestors from the Elemental Plane of Water, or so she told me—and Kala's nixie heritage allowed her to swim like a champion and even breathe underwater when she needed to.
"It not problem," said Snickers, and without warning, he scurried up behind me, climbed onto my back, and leapt into my newly-purchased adventurer's backpack. "Giddyup, Annie."
"Excuse me, I'm a librarian, not a horse!" I protested.
"Good. Kobold never ride horse. You more like giant weasel. Better mount for kobold. Go across water now!" he said, poking at the back of my neck with his claw as he spoke.
Liona was choking back laughter. I shot her a dirty look. "What's wrong?" she said cheerily. "You heard the kobold! Make like a weasel! Come on!" And with that, she dove into the water.
"Oh! I guess we're going then!" said Kala, slipping into the water behind her. Snickers was still prodding my neck. I sighed and stepped gingerly off the dock. The water was soft and wet, but it held my weight (and Snickers's). I could see a faint blue glow where my soles met the surface of the water. I tried a few gentle, experimental bounces—but I couldn't break the surface without floating right back up. It was as if the magic had turned me into an Annabelle-sized buoy.
"Cross water faster! Snickers feeling seasick!" said Snickers.
"If you throw up on me, I swear I'll drop you," I hissed back. We started across the harbor. It was dark out—credit Liona for that. Not for the sun going down at night, I mean, but for the idea to creep in after dark to try and catch anyone guarding the boat unawares.
Pretty soon we were looking up the side of the ship. Over the sound of the waves, I could hear footsteps on the deck. "That's your cue, Kala," Liona whispered. Kala nodded and pulled a flower off of her necklace, which had remained miraculously dry, and gave it a strong overhand throw, so it landed on the deck of the ship.
"Huh?" came a deep voice from above. Then came "What the f—" before the voice was drowned out by the loud buzzing. More shouting and cussing followed. Then screaming.
"They're trying to fight the bees," Kala whispered serenely. "Not smart. Swords and crossbows won't be any use against a swarm like that. If I were them, I'd—"
There was a loud splash as one of the crew members jumped into the water right next to us.
"—do that," Kala finished.
I managed to pull the man out of the water before he could swim away. He was a human, light-skinned, with red hair and cheap leather armor. "Hi," I said. "Sorry about the bees. There's been a bit of a mix-up with the ship. Who else is on board?"
"S-s-seven others," he stammered. "Look, I'm just a hireling, I don't know much! And I'm allergic, okay? Please let me go!"
Several more splashes followed his words. It seemed the rest of the crew had caught on. I could see the swarm flying off the ship to pursue the fleeing sailors. "That means there's no one left on board for them to chase. It should be safe for us to go up now," Kala said, relaxing her concentration. The swarm dispersed as quickly as it appeared.
"It was supposed to be an easy smuggling operation!" sputtered the sailor I was holding. "He only offered us 20 gold to load those animal cages on board! It weren't nothin' notorious, honest! That's all I know! Please, I don't wanna die for 20 gold!"
He probably meant "nefarious." I resisted the urge to correct him. "I guess we can let him go," said Liona.
"Wait!" cried Snickers from behind me. He scrambled out of the bag, reached into the sailor's pockets, and pulled out a small pouch of coins. "Okay! Now we let him go!" he finished.
I let him go. "Sorry again!" I called as he swam away. "Uh...have a nice day!" Liona stared at me. I blushed. "It's what I tell the library visitors when they leave, okay? Shut up."
"I didn't say anything," she said with a wink, and started climbing up the side of the ship. "C'mon."
And I was worried that my spider cloak wouldn't be useful in this adventure! It's the only one of my...magic things...that I haven't figured out how to re-shape into anything else yet, so I just wear it all the time. Now I had the perfect opportunity to show off a little. While the others struggled to make their way up the slippery ropes to the deck, I scaled my way up the side as easily as if there had been a staircase, reaching the top when Kala and Liona were barely halfway.
"Good climbing, Weasel Annie," said Snickers.
"Yes, well done," said a man's voice. I turned. A bald man with a skull tattoo on his shoulder had just emerged from the cabin, and he was approaching us menacingly, sword in hand. "But this is my ship."
Crap.
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