«Are they magical animals? Can they do any small magic?»
«Of course, they can! There are also human-sized Purras, but they live on other islands. For example, on the island of Shean (which is south of here) lives Princess Leonella, who has surrounded herself with large purras instead of bodyguards. By the way, she doesnt like the King of Opal either. You should meet her.»
«Will her purras turn on me again?» Patricia felt her purse lighten after landing on Purras island.
«Well, pirates rob the ships they meet so they can spend the money on booze and pleasure,» Nethopyrina said diplomatically.
«I thought it was to accumulate more treasure and bury a pirates treasure, which can then be dug up at the end of the career and spent on a large estate.»
«Youre a humorist!» Nethopyrina gave Patricia a friendly pat on the shoulder with her wing. «I havent seen a single pirate who could save up money for his own farm, let alone an estate.»
«Have you seen many pirates?»
«Ive been flying over ships for a long time, eavesdropping, peeping. I steal something pirates dont have well. They usually blame the thefts on each other and dont suspect the fairies. Pirates have an unstable income, depending on the wealth of the ships they encounter, and an unreliable future. They can always be captured and hanged or sent to feed the fish. Each boarding could be their last, so pirates dump all their booty on Peony Island. There are many taverns there, you can drink and have fun.»
«Ive heard that there is a slave trade on Peony Island,» Patricia said.
«That too! The pirates have to sell captured prisoners somewhere, but we dont take prisoners, so we dont need to go to Peony.»
Thats true. All the prisoners were destroyed by a bloodthirsty ship. Its impossible to spend a single man on «The Bloodsucker», the ship will drink his blood immediately. The planks of the walls and deck would turn scarlet for a moment, and the man would die. The only exception was Patricia, thats why she was the captain. And the ship was squeamish about the blood of fairies and magical creatures. Their blood must be poisoned or enchanted. Thats why the fairy in the hold was still unharmed. She was now singing strange songs that sounded like drunken ramblings. Probably one of the goblins gave her rum and the fairy got drunk.
«Everyone drinks from grief,» Nethopyrina nodded. «And for a fairy to be a hostage is a great sorrow. I bet she feels like a moth in a jar.»
«No kidding!» Patricia was nervous, because the scarlet rays of the sunset were beginning to fade behind the horizon.
«Youre so serious! What if I told you about the dancers from Peony? Theyre all nagas, serpentine or evil fairies. Their profession is to pick pirates pockets. All our colleagues sail from Peony with empty wallets.»
«How come rumors of pirate treasure if its all spent on booze and dancers?»
«Do you want to find a pirate treasure?» Nethopyrina clapped her gray eyelashes in surprise.
Patricia didnt know what to say. Not to admit honestly that she wanted to find an alternative to Medea Shais proposal. Patricia hadnt told either Nethopyrina or Zeligena about the impending deal with the fairy queen yet. And they were her main assistants aboard «The Bloodsucker». Unlike the active fragile fairies, the strong goblins behaved passively. They only knew how to fight, and had no ideas in their heads. Strategists of them were not good. Acting on the principle of «you have the power, you dont need the brains» does not always lead to the best. And now there was an unhappy murmur on the deck. The motley crew was shaking their fists, saying goodbye to the island disappearing in the distance. There were curses and threats. The goblins were only now coming out of the enchantment of the purras, and they felt screwed.
«Oh, those purras are!» The largest of the goblins complained. «They occupy the whole island and set their own laws on it. You cant even pick a coconut from a palm tree without their permission. Otherwise they will bite your finger off.»
Since the goblin was blowing on his paw, there was no doubt about the damage caused by the Purras.
«Next time Ill show them!» The goblin waved his wand menacingly.
«And they will come at you in a pack, and you will not be able to get your paws off their island. But the purras will sell your skin,» said Nethopyrina, snidely.
The goblin immediately fell silent. He was not afraid of the cannon volleys of oncoming ships, but he was afraid of some purras. How could those furry little things frighten such a big guy?
The trolls did not complain about life, because they were not interested in the fruit from the purras island. But they had drunk almost all the fire wine from the hold. There were only a few barrels left. Patricia hoped that they would finish it too. Otherwise the whole ship might burst into flames like a match if one of the barrels suddenly cracked.
The bags of fruit were brought to the ship by goblins. They are so strong that they can easily carry even a boulder on their backs.
Patricia noticed a bag of mangoes, kiwis and pineapples that she hadnt bought.
«I traded it to the Purras,» Zeligena bragged.
«What did you give them for it?»
Zeligena wore no jewelry of any value that the greedy islanders might be tempted by.
«Nothing but a promise and a few smiles,» the swamp fairy boasted.
«Dont tell me you took it all away from them by scaring them with a musket.»
«It is no way! I dont scare anyone with a gun. Its against the law. I could be arrested and executed like a common pirate for walking around with a saber. Im more subtle than that.»
«And what did you do to scare the Purras?»
«I promised them youd bring a flood to their island unless they gave you a gift. Theyre very afraid of sinking. The Purras dont like water at all.»
«Did they really take your word for it that I could summon a flood? I didnt realize the Purras were so naive.»
«The waves told them you were friends with mermaids. A girl whos friends with mermaids can get the sea maidens to flood an entire country. Besides, you have another swamp fairy in your entourage,» Zeligena pouted smugly. «The proximity of the swamp makes purras sick, too.»
«Dont make any more promises to anyone that I cant fulfill. Its not in my power to summon a storm or create a flood.»
«But you can really make a deal with the mermaids. Even if they cant flood the whole kingdom for you, they can flood it so much that the inhabitants have to walk knee-deep in water. In such a situation, you can already give any king an ultimatum. To prevent the lower floors of his own palace from sinking, every ruler will make concessions. Its a pity that the mermaids are now exhausted by the dragons attacks and cant flood all of Opal for you. Otherwise you wouldnt have to fight the war yourself.»
«What would the mermaids ask in return?» Patricia was wary. She could not believe that the sea maidens could help unselfishly. She herself was ready to save a mermaid only for a thank you, but she didnt expect a favor in return.
«Well, mermaids arent purras. They wont rob you of everything, but they may ask you to make a blood sacrifice over the sea.
«Is it a bull or a goat?»
«It is a man.»
«Thats horrible!» Patricia was embarrassed.
«For a pirate, killing the enemy is routine. You capture someone and slaughter them over the sea. Youll have to perform a ritual to make the mermaids realize the sacrifice is meant for them.»
«Has anyone ever done something like that over your swamp?»
Zeligena was now embarrassed.
«One king, defeated in a war, asked the swamp fairies to flood his enemys country with mire,» she admitted reluctantly. «I still remember what it was like: a whole army and a whole kingdom went into the swamp. No one ever saw them again.»