34A/N: This is a sequel to Marcus Seamus and The Tide Jewel. I'm putting this short chapter out to see if there is enough interest. In this story, I will be tweaking the world so it will be a little different than the first.
Chapter 1: Being a Hunter is Hard Work
Water rushed around us in a vortex, rising at an alarming speed.
"You've got to be kidding me!" I held the music box between my knees and slung my umbrella across my back.
"It's the only way out," Bishop said. "We have to swim through that tunnel." He pointed at one of the few holes in the wall a few feet above us.
"How do you know that for sure? What if that tunnel doesn't go anywhere? We'll be trapped!" I moved the music box so that I could hold it comfortably and firmly in the crook of my arm, against my chest. The water churned around my thighs, climbing fast to my waist.
Bishop cocked his eyebrows. "Did you see any other way out?"
Well, no, not exactly. There was no other way out of that stupid cave. The tunnel from which we had entered had magically turned into a stone wall and we didn't know the spell to reverse it back into its original state. "But how do you know which tunnel?" The cold water had reached my chest and I started to shiver.
It was a beautiful cave really. I would have stopped to marvel at it if it didn't turn out to be such a death trap. There were thousands of luminescent mother-of-pearls seashells, as big as my palm, embedded on the walls. The shells emitted a peculiar, bluish-green light. There were multi-coloured corals, two or three times taller than an average man, rising from the ground.
"The marking on the tunnels, did you not see it?" Bishop said. He slung his sword across his back. "That one is marked 'Waterfall' in Syrenia." He frowned at me. "You did study the language before we left, as I told you to, didn't you?"
Of course I didn't. Studying the dead language of the ancient sirens wasn't exactly my idea of fun. "Yes, of course," I mumbled as I avoided his eyes.
"You didn't, did you?"
He could be very overbearing sometimes.
"If we get out of here alive," I said. "I am going to have a long, hot bath. Or some hot tea. Oh, you know what's going to feel good? Having some hot tea while in the bath." I considered taking my boots off but thought better of it.
"Stop trying to avoid the question Marcus Seamus." He sounded irritated. "Did you or did you not study the siren's language before we left?" His eyebrows were dark, straight and slanted slightly upward at the end. Right now there was a deep crease in the space between the eyebrows.
It was rare to hear him call me by my full name. Usually he called me Marcus, or Mark, when we were alone. The water climbed to my chin. "Deep breath," I said with a grin. He was truly endearing when he frowned at me like that. His dour expression softened a little. Yup, he was weak against me. "Here we go." I looked up at the tunnels on the wall and inhaled.
The water swept us up and I kicked my legs as hard as I could. A strong current caught me and hurled me towards the wrong tunnel.
Oh, crap. I swam hard against the current but I couldn't fight it with only one free hand. I didn't want to let go of the music box. I panicked and kicked my legs harder.
A hand gripped my arm and yanked me sideways. Bishop. It was enough to pull me out of the violent water rushing towards the other entrance and into the right one. I reached out, caught the opening and pulled myself in. The torrent hurled me through the bends and curves at a dizzying speed, thrashing me around the tunnel as if I was just a mere rag doll. Everything blurred as the white waters rushed around me and I exhaled bubbles out of my mouth.
A light at some distance. Thank you goddess. Wait. Didn't Bishop say waterfall? At this speed, we would be-
"Aaaargh!" I catapulted high into the air. For a split second, I caught the glimpse of sparkling water surface underneath me, before crashing into it, on my belly.
Ugh. It stung. A lot. I heard noises coming from behind me and kicked my legs in time to avoid Bishop from landing on top of me.
He said, "That hurts!"
No kidding. "Yeah. But we are alive! We are okay. And we got the Siren's music box!" I thrust the box into the sky triumphantly.
Exhilarating. Times like these made me feel truly alive.
His lips curved into a smile. "What did I tell you? Waterfall," he said smugly.
I chuckled. I couldn't help it. His pale eyes had always turned bluer whenever he smiled. At least that was what it seemed to me. I started to swim towards the mossy banks of that small lake. Bishop followed closely behind. Now all we had to do was to make our way back to the twins and head home.
I heaved myself up onto the solid earth, panting. I had enough swimming for one day and my body was hurting all over. "I won't be surprised if I have all kinds of bruises." I grimaced as I checked my chest and sides. Being a hunter wasn't exactly an easy life. "How does an old man like you survive so long in this job?"
As expected, he glared at me. "Who are you calling old, you impetuous boy?"
I snorted out loud. The sky above was clear and the sun was in full blast. The sirens had definitely picked a perfect location for their nests. They had chosen a peninsula, carpeted by a lush meadow, soaring high above a pristine sandy shoreline. I could hear the faint, rhythmical slaps of the ocean in a distant. It was quite a beautiful place, reminded me of my birth village.
"You would have known about the waterfall if you had studied Syrenia as I've told you." Bishop lay down beside me on the ground, breathing hard as well.
"Oh will you let it go," I said. "You can be very annoying some days, do you know that?" I brought the small music box closer to my face. It was gilded in gold, decorated with a carving of a winged, half-fish, half-human creature with long hair. She sat on the rocks by the ocean, playing a lyre. By her fish tail, drowning men looked up at her, with mouth opened in silence scream and arms reached out begging for mercy. The siren looked down with a smile and half-lidded eyes. I thought I could once again hear her song.
Or maybe it was just the seagull's cries.
It was said that the music box should never be opened or it would drive people mad. I ran my thumb along the lines where the lid met the box. Wonder what would I find inside? Maybe if I just crack it open a little and take a peek-
"No." A warm hand stopped me. Bishop took the box away from me. "We are not supposed to open it."
How did he know what I was thinking? Was I really that easily read? "I was just curious. Are you not even a little bit curious of what's inside?"
"I have other things in mind." He set the box aside. His hands undid my tie and started to unbutton my shirt.
I asked, "Such as?"
He kissed me. "Such as...taking off your wet clothes, lest you become ill with pneumonia."
One thing I found about Bishop recently, was that near-death experiences made him horny. Not that I would complain, mind you. I was totally fine with it.
Yup. Absolutely fine. As fine as the taste of his mouth when we kissed. As warm as his breath in my ear and his hand, which had wandered into my wet pants, trying to coax my body to respond to him.
"Urgent telegram for Magister Knight and Novitius Seamus!" A female voice chirped loudly nearby my head.
Bishop's hand shot out of my pants at a lightning speed.
"Third-Class Carrier Eve at your service! Urgent telegram for Magister Knight and Novitius Seamus!" A small, white and grey dove had landed nearby and out of its tiny beak a cheerful noise rang out.
Bishop sighed and got off me. "Go on then. What does it say?"
Eve blinked her dark eyes at us, Her tiny chest bore the insignia of the Agency. I had never seen an animal Serf or a familiar before. The Agency would only use them for emergency as their number had continued to dwindle. As Old magic slowly drained away from the Goddess' earth, more and more magical creatures died or disappeared and magical artifacts lost some or all of their potency.
Eve bobbed her head up and down. "Were you two about to copulate?"
What kind of question was that? I asked, "What is it to you?"
"When is the mating season for humans? It seems to be all over the place. Is it different time for different humans? Do you not have a set season for mating?"
Great. We got a nosey familiar. "Just deliver the message," I said.
Eve made a hacking noise. "Your code please."
Bishop said, "Activation code zero-three-five-beta-north-grimoire. Magister Bishop Knight."
Eve's eyes turned red. This time Chief McCormick's voice rang out of her gaping beaks, "Start of telegram. Magister Knight, Novitius Seamus. This is an emergency. Please make your way back immediately. And I do mean immediately. Not half an hour from now. End of telegram."
I groaned. "How did the Chief know that we were going to-" Bishop clamped his hand over my mouth to stop me.
"Did you get that?" Eve asked as her eyes turned back into their original dark brown colour. "Would you like me to repeat it?"
"We got it. We got it." Bishop waved his hand impatiently. "We would like to send a telegram back."
Eve's eyes turned glowing amber.
"Start of telegram. Chief McCormick. We shall arrive in Port Ashton this evening. End of telegram," Bishop said. "Deliver that immediately, will you?"
"We won't get there this evening. It would take a day to travel," I protested.
"We'll fly," Bishop said. "That is what the Chief implied when she said emergency."
Oh. That's right. The twins.
Eve however, didn't fly away. The bird paced around in circle instead, pecking at the ground.
I sighed out loud. "What now?"
"Usually when a Carrier did an excellent job, she would receive a piece of bread or a handful of corn..." She blinked at me.
"Ah, sorry but as you can see we don't have anything to give you."
Eve looked pissed if it was possible for a bird to look pissed. She shot us a dirty look before she flapped her wings and flew away.
Bishop took out a small whistle out of his jacket and brought it to his mouth. I couldn't hear anything but I knew that the twins could. Soon enough, in the sky, there were two black dots that got bigger fast. The black pegasus twins, Demetrius and Demetria, swooped down and hit the ground running, kicking dirt and small rocks around. When the dirt and rocks subsided, I saw what I had always thought as the two most gorgeous horses I had ever seen. Theirs was the colour of the blackest black, sleek under the summer sun. Their eyes were as red as the most precious rubies.
Ugh, I'm not feeling good, Demetria's voice rung in my head. She swished her tail around. My stomach is- She stopped abruptly as she eyed the state of my shirt and pants. Oh, in the name of Poseidon! Could you not keep your hands off Master for a day, Two-Legs?
Demetrius, the stallion, kicked a little bit of dirt towards my direction.
"It was his idea," I hissed as I reached into Demetria's saddle bag for dry clothes. "He's the one who can't keep his hands off me!"
As if, Demetria neighed shrilly as she shook her thick, gorgeous mane.
Did I say two most beautiful horses? I really meant two vilest, most wicked horses.
#
When we reached Port Ashton that evening, we went back to the Dorm to put the twins into the stables. As I lifted the saddle off Demetria, a dark, lean man with curly chesnut hair rushed into the stable.
"Hey Ralph," I greeted the man. "How are you doing?" I hung the saddle on the hooks.
"I-I heard the Chief called you back." Ralph's face was pale. He was panting heavily.
"What's wrong Santos?" Bishop frowned at him. "You look as if you had seen a ghost."
Ralph collapsed against the stable wall. "It's...it's Ben. He finally...turned."
"No..." I said. I quickly closed the gap between Ralph and I. "Where is he now?"
"Still in the hospital. They put him in a water tank."
"Let's go," I rushed to the door. "I want to see him."
"Seamus! We are supposed to report to the Chief," Bishop barked.
"After!" I barked back. "After we see Ben." Ralph and I ran towards the hospital. After a few seconds, I heard quick steps chasing after us.