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JAIMERON LEAPED TO action the moment a plan had been decided on. Wolflock couldn’t help but see a defiant smirk across his golden bearded face as he neglected to ask the mayor for any kind of permission. He ordered two of his troops to escort Najord to the guardhouse and replace Jaxarna with him in the cell. He then ordered the rest of his Guard to get the strongest, fastest horses available and to meet them on the way to Vanmoinen’s collapsed shed.
Wolflock, Mothy, Dr Qwan and the others began their run out of town. As they reached the walls, Wolflock turned to look at the sun for how much time they had left and saw Lord Therym was no longer with them. Scoffing, he hauled himself faster, sprinting along the road to the lumber mill.
The first time it took them over half an hour to reach their destination, but, while speeding forward with dire consequences chasing them, they made it in less than half that time.
They made it to the shed of debris and started wrenching planks of wood free. The chilly afternoon air chilled the sweat that poured off their brows. Wolflock used the same motion he’d learned on the Silver Ice Hair to haul rigging, working feverishly to free the river. Small spouts of clear water soon began trickling through the mess, clearing the brown slime around them.
After just a few minutes, they found that the smaller pieces weren’t the problem. One of the back doors with its twisted, metal brackets had lodged itself tightly into the ground and between boulders. Wolflock and Mothy were unafraid of the brown slime, having seen the effects the clean water had on it, and got into the riverbed to dislodge the door. Jaimeron and his Guard tugged from the top, but the piece wouldn’t move. Even after attaching Vanmoinen’s elk, it wouldn’t move.
“It’s no good, boys. It’s stuck fast. We’ll have to wait for aid. Vanmoinen, get your axes.”
Wolflock punched the door as anxiety gripped his throat. Himi might already be in the bay. They didn’t have time. Why wouldn’t it just move?
The sun vanished and Girid ran about lighting torches she’d found in the wreckage. As the artificial light illuminated the pile of broken and twisted wood, Wolflock only let Mothy see the hot tears burning down his grubby cheeks. Mothy gripped his friend’s upper arm, his face quivered as if he was about to start crying too, but he held strong for Wolflock.
“Come on, boys. We did our best. Come find some tools to help.” Jaimeron called, offering his hand down to them.
“Not just yet,” roared a proud voice from just beyond the first treeline.
A great rumbling of powerful hooves rolled up to them, and Lord Therym sat atop a huge bull on the bank of the river, another following him. The pair were thicker than a carriage and their shining horns curved around their heads like earthy halos. Wolflock had never been happier to see the man.
“Attach these hooks to the base and my boys will pull it free.”
“Are you sure?” Mothy called out, but Wolflock had already done the calculations.
He knew how powerful horses were, and, by the size of those healthy bulls, he had no doubt that they’d tear it free with ease. He latched the two hooks under the door and yanked on them to make sure they were secure.
“I’ve seen them pull over houses, my boy. This is a walk in the paddock for them!”
The bulls put tension on the ropes, holding them taught until the boys were free of the riverbed. Mothy then leaped forward and grabbed a section of wall, wiggling it free from the remaining rubbish.
“What are you doing? The bulls can take care of this without issue.”
Mothy smirked at him through his straining. “Don’t you want to see your plan work without delay?”
“Yes? But we’ll have to walk... Oh!”
Wolflock realised what his friend meant and jumped forward to help. The rest of the helpers looked in wonder at what they were doing as they held the large section of wall steadily out of the way.
“Bit different from barrels and planks, right?” Mothy chuckled, holding the boards above his head.
“I expect so. Ready?”
“Ready!”
“On three.”
The bulls pulled downstream, and the wood groaned and whined. Metal scraped and water gushed.
“One.”
A deep cracking in the dam filled them with suspense.
“Two.”
The two bulls heaved forward under Lord Therym’s command and the dam shattered down the middle as the door splintered into hundreds of pieces. The water rushed through with red and orange seams from the firelight.
“THREE!” Wolflock shouted. The boys leaped into the water after the debris, tucking the piece of wall under their knees.
The rolling torrent of water tumbled the planks of wood and thatch under them, and they rode the wave into the forest. They hadn’t anticipated the darkness. The sun had disappeared as the thin canopy of pine trees shaded them from its lingering light. Wolflock sat at the back and helped steer the makeshift raft, following Mothy’s movements. They jolted this way and that, trying to keep back far enough to not get sucked under the rapids as they refreshed the river with new life.
Then it got even darker. They hit a thicker part of the wood and desperately tried to stay in the water and attached to their wall.
“I can’t see!” Mothy cried out from in front.
“Just hang on!” Wolflock felt his knuckles ache from gripping the plank on either side of him.
Just as he thought they were bound to crash and drown, a greenish blue light glowed under them as the moon swanned out behind the clouds.
“It’s the algae! It’s in the water.” Wolflock called from behind Mothy, who he could now see the silver shape of in front of him.
The rolling waves glittered between the moonlight and the glowing algae, lighting their path all the way through the forest and down through the town. They improved their turning as the river roared through the town, cleaning the slimy canal with ease. People stared and pointed at them as they flashed past on their raft. After what felt like hours, but had only been a few minutes, Wolflock, Mothy, and the river hit the bay.
Their raft rocked front to back as the fast water hit the slow. They both tried to see if their plan had worked and if the bay had been cleansed, but they nearly sent the raft off kilter and fell in. The boys scrambled back onto the wooden platform, laughing as they helped each other on again. People stood all along the shoreline, waiting, whispering to each other as they watched.
Wolflock heard Mothy catch his breath as they watched the water. The force of their trip had sent them into the middle of the bay and the water still looked brown. Wolflock frowned, glancing nervously at the sea to the West.
“So... why are you doing this?” Mothy asked abruptly.
“The town will starve without it,” was Wolflock’s brief response.
“Uh huh... But why are you doing this? Why do you want to help Creast? What are you getting out of it?”
“Mothy!” Wolflock gasped in mock outrage. “I’ll have you know I am very altruistic and that you would think otherwise wounds me!”
Mothy just looked at him with bored eyes, but a telling smirk.
There was a long silence for a moment, and Wolflock looked over the bay.
“Himi is out there... If these mermaids get sick, then she might too. I don’t want to risk that when there is something I could do to stop it.”
Mothy touched his heart. “Lockie... That’s really kind of-”
“Also, this is the biggest port in the Northwest, and it’ll be a pain to get back home if it isn’t functioning at full capacity. Also,” he grinned as Mothy smacked his own forehead, “the Mayor will owe me a favour surely for doing this for him and solving the mystery.”
“What am I going to do with you, Lockie?” Mothy sighed.
“Come along on adventures. The mundane would deem it insane to try to keep me out of trouble?” Wolflock shrugged.
“Someone has to.” His best friend chuckled, but soon stopped. “Lockie... What if it doesn’t work? Was it worth it?”
“Was what worth it? Anything is worth righting a wrong.”
“But... What if you did something wrong to reach it?”
“Ends justify means, Mothy. What’s all this about?”
Mothy squeezed the water out of his hair and wiped his face, looking away. “The... the purple powder. I’ve seen similar things used like that before. On slaves. And, you didn’t tell me you knew there had been slavers in that shed.”
Wolflock’s gut twisted. Didn’t Mothy understand? He’d used a tool against a bad person. Why was he upset?
“I’d never use it on you. You have to know that.” He put his hand on Mothy’s wet shirt.
His friend didn’t make eye contact with him again. Wolflock went to say something else, but the raft thudded against something and rocked them both.
The moon shone in all its beauty above them, and the water under them glowed. The algae highlighted the edges of the entire bay and as their eyes travelled to the centre; they saw a deep blue light swirling amongst the cleansing wisps of water.
“There’s the jewel!” Mothy gasped, pointed so fast Wolflock had to catch him before he fell into the water.
Wolflock smiled as he saw it. The stone was gigantic. A roughly shaped shard of sapphire, polished by centuries in the bay. It sparkled through the water and created such a bright light that people along the shoreline doused their lanterns.
Another thud hit their raft and two hands, glowing with droplets of algae laden water, pushed their raft towards the shore. The giant grey clawed hands pushed so hard the boys had to hang on, trying to not be capsized off again. The water darkened and fluttered as thousands of fish flapped across the surface. A large, grey mermaid poked her head out of the water, and he saw the similar braids that Himi had worn. Was this her mother?
She winked a big dark eye at them as she gently left them floating towards the dock, flitting under the water to join her pod as they chased the fish back to the bay.
“Here they come!” someone shouted from the shoreline.
The people of Creast ran forward with trinkets and barrels as the mermaids drove the fish forward. The broken surface of the water turned dark as piles and piles of fresh fish leaped from the water and onto the shore. People ran about, catching them with nets, buckets, and their bare hands. Mermaids began throwing the fish from the water, barking with glee as they successfully aimed them into the people’s containers. They clicked and called to each other, and several musicians began playing on the shoreline, urging the mermaids on.
Wolflock and Mothy climbed onto the dock and squeezed amongst the people lining the space. A few people fell in, laughing, while their friends reached down to pull them out. After some time of collecting fish, people stored their barrels away for the Winter. The music flowed around them and the people of Creast danced on the harbour wall. Several stayed by the water to touch the mermaids’ hands and give them little shell trinkets or human food. The bay was crystal clear.
While the people of Creast collected their bounty, Wolflock and Mothy watched the mermaids circle. They swirled the water until the moonlight had a completely clear path to all of them, moving the algae towards the edges of the bay. Their rotund grey and black forms all swam in a deosil direction, weaving up and down in the water around the brilliant blue light from the moon and the gemstone. As they weaved, some of them spiralled around each other and join hands, swimming together.
As the evening fell into its celebration, the boys made their way back to the shore. Wolflock was glad they had concocted their raft idea when he saw the mayor, Jaimeron and Girid arriving. If they had waited, they would have missed everything.
As Wolflock and Mothy jogged up to them, Dr Qwan turned away, accosted by a tall woman with wiry red hair.
“Who-”
“That’s his wife,” Wolflock answered Mothy’s question before he could finish it.
“How-”
“They’re wearing the same wedding bands and she has a medicine bag on her hip. Also, no one else has confronted him quite so vehemently, and he joked earlier about telling a woman named Charma that Jaxarna was still working, to which she responded she wouldn’t want to upset her.”
“Oh. And I suppose you never want to upset a fiery spouse.”
Dr Qwan was smiling brightly at his wife, who was shaking her hands about.
“Helping? Helping!” she shrieked and her entire face went as red as her hair.
“And now that I’m done here, my dear, nothing shall stop me from wrapping my arms about you and carrying you off to watch the moon rise together,” he swooned, both hands clapped to his heart, gushing about his own romanticism.
“If I hear one more word about you helping and not seeing your patients, I’m going to-”
“Excuse me?” Wolflock interjected as he addressed Dr Qwan Loong’s wife. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dr Charma. I-”
“I beg your pardon. Have we met? How do you know me?”
“Dr Qwan has been integral to helping cure all the patients in Creast. If it weren’t for his water analysis, we wouldn’t have been able to heal the bay and keep the mermaids safe.”
“Oh goodness. Such flattery. Best not let anyone hear, otherwise they’ll think I’m actually a good doctor. Charmainette, my darling dear, may we retire to a comfortable back alley so this young apparel intriguer can sing my praises?”
Wolflock’s grateful face dropped and Mothy snorted at how similar the faces of the young boy and Dr Charmainette looked.
“Is this why you’ve missed all of your appointments?” She sighed, gesturing to Wolflock.
“Oh yes! My love, you must hear about Mr Wolflock Felen’s infamous plan today. He found out the culprit behind the bay infection, solved who damaged Jaxarna’s mine and helped to take out the laziest villain I’ve ever known.”
“And are you going to actually reward him for doing your work for you?”
“Ah! That’s my love. As generous as always. Hmm... Let me see...” Dr Qwan dug through his pockets until he found the Antrum bone match. “Aha! It is with my greatest pleasure I can give this token of appreciation to you, Mr clever Wolflock Felen.”
Wolflock held his breath as he took the match, struck with delight.
“Oh, don’t be foolish. Give him money or a tonic or something-”
“No!” Wolflock said, louder than he intended. “No, no. Thank you. This is perfect. Thank you.”
“Oh? Well, as long as you’re happy with it. He’s got a bunch of those in the clinic, but if you like it...”
“What a good night,” Mothy grinned, hugging Wolflock around the shoulders.
Wolflock said nothing. He just smiled. His friend, Himi, the mermaid who had saved his life, was safe.
“The night’s not over yet boys!” Dr Qwan clapped them on the shoulders and got them to stand up. “There is much to be drunk, eaten and danced. Let the best part of the night begin!”
“If you don’t see your patients tomorrow, then you’ll have demons to pay!” Charmainette warned.
“Of course, my love. Of course! But these gentlemen have never celebrated the Pisces Moon festival! And, even if they had, they haven’t celebrated it at Creast! And, even if they had, they haven’t celebrated it with me!”