High Octane

It was shaping up to be an uneventful evening with no chance of excitement. Farah was decidedly disappointed, she hadn't even attracted a mediocre job offer she could turn down as child's play and below her skills as a master thief. Nor had she heard so much as a titillating whiff of hushed conversation pointing to interesting prospects a creature like her could take advantage of.

"What a bore." the ferret yawned, stretching within the far alcove she'd sequestered herself in at the back of the dingy bar.

Time to move on to greener pastures.

Perhaps she'd have more luck in one of her other haunts.

Though, it would be a real shame if she'd stolen everything there was to be pilfered.

The thought was almost horrifying.

But not as horrifying as the sudden appearance of a cloaked figure sitting at her table.

She'd only just closed her eyes in the second it took to stretch.

"Hey! How did you get there?"

It wasn't magic, her pendant would have vibrated.

The creature - a diminutive newt - simply licked his eyeballs at her from beneath his strangely damp looking hood. The material was unusual as it didn't appear to be dripping anywhere but was most definitely saturated.

"Noot walked." he said placidly. "Nobody notices him."

"Wait, you're a newt...called Noot?"

The newt nodded stoically.

"Noot has many brothers and sisters, all called Noot. Mother thought it easier to name all the same."

Despite her paw lingering at the knife at her side, the ferret was convinced now there was no threat in this simple, yet surprisingly well dressed, creature.

He must be a serf, sent out by some rich beast too proud to dirty their paws in the less desirable parts of town.

Perhaps the evening was about to look up.

"I take it Noot has a job for Farah? And if it's as weird as that family history lesson, I'm in."

The tiny creature nodded a few times before standing and throwing an elaborate 'come this way' gesture which had a few of the nearby beasts raising eyebrows.

"Please follow, Miss Farah, Lady Calida would very much like to speak in private."

Now Farah was a cautious beast, but she was also afflicted with a strong sense of curiosity, and when a strange little newt, swathed in unusual finery shows up in a dump like the one she was currently sitting in, a girl's interest was piqued.

"Lead on my moist friend," she said with an equally elaborate flourish.  

Outside the bar, and looking painfully out of place, was what looked like a shiny pod on large spoked wheels. Bigger than the usual handcarts beasts used to tow goods or belongings, this contraption seemed large enough to ride in - and what was more, it also appeared to be hissing and wheezing with a slick whirring of clockwork gears. A small clutch of beggars, drunks, and urchins gawped at it from a safe distance.

Farah was surprised no one had tried to steal it.

Perhaps when her current job was complete she may give that a whirl.

"Is this thing magic or alchemical?" the ferret whistled through her teeth. It must be worth a fortune.

"A little of both. Please," the tiny newt held a door open for her as if she were a noble lady and Farah laugh-snorted at the very notion, though she was quite taken with the charade.

"Don't mind if I do." she said, sticking her snout in the air and daintily miming holding her gown up to step within the vehicle.

The interior was just as plush as she expected from the strange shiny plated exterior, with upholstered seats and gilded accents of an unusual design. She could even see Noot through a tiny decorated window at the front as he took up his position on a raised seat above the front two wheels.

"What do you call this thing?" Farah asked, watching the newt pull a strange lever and take a hold of what looked like another spoked wheel.

"Lady Calida calls it a 'locapod'."

The audience the contraption had gathered all scattered (or toppled in inebriation) in various directions as it lurched into motion, jarring Farah back into the fine upholstery as it creaked off. It was a strange sensation to be sure, to be moving when sitting still, and once Farah got used to the slight swaying and released her claws from the seat - it was almost enjoyable. She supposed it was like being in a boat, on land, and with more obstacles to avoid...

"Say," Farah called again, as the street and the bar were left behind. "How come you came alone? Surely a thing like this needs guarding?"

"Lady Calida asked Noot to be discreet." the newt replied.

"I wonder if Noot knows the meaning of that word." Farah mumbled to herself as she sank back into the lush seating.

——————————————————-—

The ride was a short one out of town, to a large mansion Farah was surprised she hadn't even noticed, and by the time they arrived, the ferret was almost glad to be getting back to solid ground. The novelty of a clockwork carriage had worn off once her legs had started to feel like jelly from all the vibrations of the gears.

"I think I'll stick to walking in the future," she said as she staggered out of the door.

Luckily the journey through the entrance hall was enough to reclaim co-ordination - however a new discomfort was assaulting the ferret, and this one was harder to ignore.

"Why is it so damp in here?" Her paws were all wet and condensation from the humid interior glistened over her fur. Leafy plants were everywhere, and the sound of running water somewhere in the distance echoed off the glass of the hot-house like interior.

"Apologies, apologies" Noot chimed, having thrown off his strangely wet-dry cloak to waddle ahead like a herald. "It is for Lady Calida's comfort. Noot and she are water-land creatures, this place, it is too..." He stuck his blunt little nose in the air with a sniff of distaste. "dry."

"She's a noo--newt as well?"

Noot gasped as though she'd just stepped on his paddle-like tail.

"Oh no no no, Lady Calida is a beautiful Salamander - much different to lowly Noot."

Farah had always assumed they were the same creature, but maybe it was a class thing, where the pretentious called themselves a much fancier name. She was surprised however, that one of their kind was so far from the Ember Isles where she had heard they had their kingdom.

They were nearing the source of the water sound, and the leafy foliage gave way to a large pool lit by alchemical lanterns and shielded by day by draping silks. A tall, red speckled salamander reclined in the steaming water, dressed in delicately thin finery while sipping on an equally delicate drink.

Noot threw his elaborate bow once more.

"Lady Calida, Farah the Master Thief is here."

"Oh how charming." the salamander exclaimed, straightening from her leisure to look Farah up and down in one fluid motion of her obsidian eyes. "Please do forgive the surroundings, but this is how one conducts business back home. Affairs are always want to run more smoothly when one is at comfort. You are more than welcome to join me."

"I'll pass," Farah said with a twitch of her tail and a shake of her pelt. "Could we do this somewhere...a little less damp?"

Lady Calida blinked a few times, and then simply laughed a light musical laugh.

"Oh, dear, of course, it must be most inconvenient for one with fur." The salamander stood and Noot dutifully scurried over to drape her in a glossy and light robe of the same shimmery material as his cloak. "I don't believe I could stand it myself, being covered in something so cumbersome."

"You get used to it," Farah offered, trying not to step in the wet patches the salamander was leaving in her wake as she glided across the marble towards a door Noot held open.

The ferret thief was glad it was blessedly dry inside, though she suspected no one would mind her dripping all over the carpet or furniture.

"I hate getting wet," she shivered, shaking her fur out again and jumping slightly when tiny hands began rubbing her dry with a towel. "Stop that!"

"Apologies, apologies."

"Oh Noot, do try not to insult our guest." Lady Calida chided with a smirk, draping herself over a chaise with about as much ease as a piece of string. "He's such a darling little thing - can I offer you a drink? Something to nibble on perhaps?"

"Well what I'd really like is to know more about this job." Farah said, gazing about the room at all the glittery treasures on display.

"Directly to business then, very good," The salamander regarded her again with those shiny black eyes of polished jet. "There is an object I would like you to retrieve."

"You mean steal."

The elegant amphibian shrugged her shoulders.

"In a manner of speaking. You see, no beast possesses what I seek, it lies forgotten and out of reach in a place only one of your skill and calibre may attain it."

"Go on," Farah said, twitching her whiskers at the flattery and plonking herself down in a sumptuous armchair.

"No doubt you have noticed that my home and locapod are...unusual by the standards of this land," Calida said.

"It hadn't slipped my attention," the ferret replied, surprised again by Noot hovering a tray of delicate pastries just under her nose.

"Please help yourself, Noot is an absolute wizard in the kitchen," Calida remarked. "It helps one acclimatise so much easier when the taste of home is ever at hand."

"I'll...pass." Farah preferred food which didn't stare back at her with multiple compound eyes. "Home? Is that the Ember Isles?"

"Oh yes, a beautiful archipelago, have you been?"

"No." But Farah imagined all the strange and wonderful things there could be on offer to steal.

"I haven't returned myself in many a year," Calida commented. "I am a traveller you see, voyaging here and there as I please."

"In your locapod?"

The salamander merely laughed and flicked a paw at her.

"Only short distances, the hydraulics in the wretched thing have yet to be ironed out, making it the most awful bone-shaker - no no I travel in my ship."

"You own a ship?" Why was Farah not surprised.

"Indeed, you are sitting in it!" Calida spread her paws out to indicate the room. "My mansion travels with me."

Now Farah was surprised.

"I find it the only acceptable way to travel." Calida continued. "But don't let me bore you with such things, I am sure you're a very busy ferret. As well as a traveller I am a something of a collector of antiquities, as you can no doubt tell from my collection."

Here Noot dutifully indicated the glittering treasures on display.

"Most are without value to any beyond the Ember Isles, and are nothing but historical treasures of our past."

Farah looked at the majority and considered otherwise.

"And so to the point of our meeting," Calida said, straightening from her recline and clapping to Noot, who hurried off to fetch something from a side chamber. "There lies, in the area, a treasure I would have, to add to my collection."

Farah was momentarily distracted by the newt servant pushing a wheeled table into the room, upon it was a lantern like object projecting light onto a small unfolding screen, and with a flick of a small disk into the base of the lantern - an image appeared as if by magic.

"It is known as the Salamander Seal." Lasy Calida said as Farah marvelled at the image flickering on the screen. The ferret couldn't help but stick a claw into the light, obscuring the image for a second. “A symbol of the ancient Ember Isle dynasty, the seal was once weilded only by the rightful heir to the throne - back in simpler times of course, when tradition was so much more...restrictive.”

“The rightful heir you say? So you’re after the throne?”

Lady Calida simply laughed her good natured laugh.

“Oh dear me no! The seal lost its political value generations before my time, it was a trifling silly thing. In fact that’s how it ended up missing. A rivalry between the royal families over the crown caused one side to murder the other. You know how these things often go, a lone heir survives and flees across the sea, only for wicked magics cast upon him by a jealous uncle or cousin to strike his ship, drowning all and sinking the seal to the bottom of the ocean —“

“Hold on a second - ocean? Will swimming be involved?” Farah’s snout wrinkled in disgust.

"Perhaps a little, the seal sank along with the Glorious Porpoise, though the compensation for wet paws will be worth it I assure you" Calida confessed. "Besides, should you approach at low tide, the wreck will be partially raised from the rocks of the cove it came to rest in."

That didn't make the prospect any more appealing.

“You’re...water beasts...why not send Noot?”

Calida looked horrified, even going so far as to squeeze the diminutive servant to her chest protectively.

“And risk losing him? Most certainly not! Talented though he is in many areas, Noot is no master thief versed in stealth and sneakery. Besides, my research indicates that the cove is giving off a strong magical resonance, a resonance of which you have protection - do you not?”

Farah’s tail flicked but she wasn’t dumb enough to grasp her pendant and give it away - though clearly Calida knew of it already.

“I did my research thoroughly before finding you,” the salamander went on. “Swimming may not be a welcome prospect, however I shall provide you with the equipment you will need to stay dry, and should that not be sufficient incentive, then perhaps the treasures hidden within that cove are.”

“Go on and I’ll think about it.” Farah griped.

The magical light box flashed with a clanking click and an image of a map appeared, with the location in question circled.

“The place became known as Bloodrock Cove, its location of protection exploited by the local pirate populace over the generations as a loot drop spot. The current ruler of the lawless sea beasts is none other than The Scarlet Sabre.”

Farah whistled through her teeth, now listening. There was none who had not heard of the Scarlet Sabre and the Heart of the Ocean.

“To steal from another thief, would that not interest you? All I seek is the seal, but all else you can carry, is yours, as is this.” A gesture and Noot presented a silver platter on which sat a fat silk purse of coin. “Think of it as a forward payment for your troubles.”

anthrocontractfantasyfantasystoryliteraturemagicnewtoriginalcharacteroriginalstorypiratesquestshortstory

 slamandertalethiefwreck

 

It’s been a long time in arriving, but I had this sitting around since MercenaryBlade hosted his contest last year. I figured I was never going to get around to completing it, and it would be a shame to let rot in obscurity. I had plans to edit some parts, but have honestly forgotten what I was going to edit them TO.

Perhaps it might jostle up some ideas if posted here, but there was an alternate version of this wherein the Salamander was the long lost heir spoken of in this text, and a double crossing was going to happen at the end - but I wasn’t feeling it. So the Salamander became Lady Calida instead.
Pirates, ghosts, magic.

Stunning artwork by https://www.deviantart.com/sleyf

 

 

Stunning story by https://www.deviantart.com/mercenaryblade AND sleyf