"Greed was caught dealing business secretly. He was grabbed and murdered by Bella's men not too long ago."

Syryn's hopes and dreams cracked into little pieces. Without the maker of the idol, how was he to reverse the spell? The mage paled at the thought of his anti mage never turning back into a man.

"Did he have an apprentice or an assistant who might know about the idols he made?" He asked the captain.

"That I am unaware of- Syryn!" Idriz moved fast and caught the mage who abruptly fainted. Syryn had pitched forward but the captain secured him in his arms. A thin trickle of blood began to flow out of his nose as Idriz shouted for their healer.

"Syryn, Syryn, Syryn!" The annoying child like a voice called out to him.

"Did you pull me into your dimension again?" It wasn't hard to guess what had happened.

"Yep Yep Yep! I wanted to give you a warning."

"What warning?"

"Tell the captain if the ship keeps sailing west in a straight line, you'll all meet a watery end at the hands of mermen."

"If that is the case then my senses should be warning me of danger. It has never failed me."

"Your senses are sharp but they aren't clairvoyant, are they? My vision shows me what will happen to you no earlier than tomorrow's noon. In your time, that is two days away from the moment I pulled you inside here."

"Hmmm... Isn't that convenient? My death appears not long after your appearance in my life."

"You are so suspicious for what? Maybe I came to you knowing just how soon your death was arriving. Syryn is an ungrateful brat!" The little boy girl sulked.

"I'll let the captain know about it. If your vision is true then you have my gratitude for saving our lives."

"I'm glad to help, Syryn!"

_____

When Syryn came to, the first sight that greeted him was a man asleep on a chair with his feet up on the table.

The mage looked around and noticed medicines, bandages, a book, and several pill bottles in the room. He surmised that it was the healer's cabin.

He left the cabin quietly so as to not rouse the sleeping healer. It was as if only a few hours had elapsed since his fainting but he knew it wasn't so. It was night and the deck was mostly uninhabited. Syryn found the captain's cabin and knocked on it.

___

"A mermen attack?" Idriz asked after he had ascertained that the mage was well enough to be wandering around.

"I know it sounds like I'm making it up but my visions have never been wrong," Syryn replied. "Change the path of our-" Syryn was jolted forward by a lurch of the ship that was abnormal given the calm weather conditions. The next thing he heard was a grinding sound that sent him and the captain running to the deck on unsteady legs.

There were already a few other crewmates peering over the edge of the deck railing.

"What is happening?!" Syryn asked Idriz.

The merchant shined a light from a short glowing yellow tube that he held over the water.

Under the calm waves, Syryn could see an eye the size of a dinner plate staring right back at them.

Idriz cursed softly.

"What is that?" The mage asked.

"A baby squall."

"Is it dangerous?"

"No, but its mother is."

"What is it doing?"

Idriz put a lid on the tube, extinguishing the magic light that shone like a small fire. "Curious baby squall's cling to ships till boredom causes them to let go. It would be in our best interest to leave it alone and hope that nothing happens to the ship."

That wasn't assuring to a Syryn who was strapped for time.

The Fool's Noose stood stranded at sea while a baby sea monster hugged it with its several tentacles. Half the night passed as they waited, hoping for it to move on but the creature clung with persistence.

Syryn rued this bout of bad luck that followed him like a loyal pet. He asked the ship captain, "has this happened before?"

Idriz was at the starboard of the ship, watching the tapered end of a tentacle that was feeling across the surface of a smooth porthole. His crewmen were already aware of the situation and were waiting for the sea monster to lose interest.

"No, the fool has never encountered a squall before. It happens as often as the moon turns blue."

"I will attack it the moment you tell me to do so," Syryn replied as he felt responsible for what was happening to the ship.

"No, that should be the last thing we attempt unless you can also fight off its mother hiding in the shadows. Perhaps your vision showed you mermen, when they should have shown you a squall."

The Fool pitched to its side when the sea monster shifted a few tentacles. Syryn and Idriz held onto the rails so they didn't slide off the ship. A sharp scream sounded out louder than the groaning of the ship. A man had slid off the deck but the others had caught him as he fell past the edge.

"Is there no way at all to get rid of that thing?" He asked the captain.

The mage was impatient to reach coop island. He resisted the urge to attack the baby sea monster. Syryn racked his brains but he couldn't think of a way to dislodge the sticky monster.

"Perhaps if we give it something to play with," Idriz answered.

"Something like a crewmate?" Syryn asked.

The two men exchanged a surreptitious glance. This was the way. Someone had to be sacrificed for the good of the others.

"I can't do it," Idriz said. "I protect my men, not throw them to sea monsters."

The mage nodded. Such a sacrifice wasn't warranted. Yet.

The mood in the ship was as dark as the sky. The Sun began peeking over the horizon but their situation remained unchanged. Tensions were at their peaks but the sailors were going to meet with another problem very soon.

"Mermen," one of the crewmates shouted to alert the others.

It was Syryn's turn to curse.