Shadows In The Water
#15 of Legend of the Tiger Clan
With the ship refueled and the supplies restocked the group headed for the eastern part of gaia; to the river lands where the first gem was located, since Shayde was chosen to retrieve the gem he spent the last few days practacing his sword techniques while Xani watched him from the side.
Everything seemed quiet on the ship when the lookout spotted three riders approaching and Kerric ordered the ship to stop, allowing them to come on board and for Zeng it was going to be a big surprise for him and Saline as Angels voice came over the speaker.
"Zeng! better get down here stat!!"
Zeng darted down the stairs of the ship and as he came into the cargo hold two paws grabbed him by his vest and he heard two very familiar voices that he had not heard in a long time.
"OOOH MY LITTLE CUB!! I'VE MISSED YOU!!"
"We both have! our little hunter!"
"Mother!"
"Mother?"
Saline was finally meeting the two tigress's who adopted Zeng and she could see the smile on their faces as Sharon held him close as she stroked his head like he was a newborn kitten.
"Oooh! I've missed you MMM!"
"Mom....mmmmmm."
"(girls) AWWWW!!"
To the girls this was cute beyond measure as both of the Amazons wagged their tails with joy seeing their little one again and then as the third rider removed her hood she revealed herself to be none other then Zengs wife; Princess Linda of Minegarde.
"Linda...."
"Hello Zeng..."
Zeng ran to his lovers arms as she greeted him with a romantic kiss and stared into her eyes, eyes which he had not seen in what seemed like an eternity, as Zeng got a better look at her she was dressed in a warriors outfit no doubt made by his mothers and for some reason Zeng seemed more attracted to her.
"Ahem Zeng! i'm up here."
"Oh right! sorry!"
Sharon and Elicia then noticed Saline who was just standing there staring at the two of them until Zeng decided to introduce them to each other.
"Everyone I'd like you to meet Saline the sorceress queen of Shcrade and...my birth mother."
Sharon and Elicia were suddenly left in shock for a moment, if Saline was a queen that made Zeng a prince and that would mean they would probably lose their son, after a quick greeting Sharon left the room with a tear streaming down her face and Elicia soon followed leaving the others time to catch up.
The next day they arrived in the river lands and the ship was anchored in a nearby valley while the group took minature version to travel the rivers to the location on the map, while the others kept an eye out for anything suspicious Linda and Zeng cuddled together while Elicia and Sharon had a chat with Saline.
"So...now that Zeng's found you I suppose you'll want to take him back...he is after all YOUR son."
"True but we spellcasters were taught to always put others before ourselves...and you've made my son so happy that I don't want to force him to have to choose between two lives...I just want him to be happy."
"I already am."
"ZENG!"
Zeng had been listening in on their conversation for a while and wanted to assure them that he was okay with having three mothers, in fact they turned out to be a good influence on him and Saline knew that the amazons had raised him well, then as they neared the location Zeng felt a familiar chill in the air, a chill that haunted his memory for years.
"Village up ahead!"
"Good maybe we can stop and-! whoa...."
As they came up on the village it was frozen all around even as the sun shined upon it and in some of the huts were statues of the victims who were not able to escape, most were women and children.
"What happened here?"
"Glayce...."
Zeng gripped smolder in anger and the blade reacted to his emotions as the scabbard began to flare up a little. Shayde had completely forgotten that he killed Glayce when he rescued Xani and thought that if he told Zeng what happened maybe, just maybe he could give up his quest for revenge.
"Zeng there's something I-!"
"Cave up ahead! this is it."
Some of the group smiled knowing they had reached their destination, then a black shadow swept past the bow of the ship, the others thought it was some big fish but to Zeng it was dinner.
"Be right back *Slurrp*"
"A tiger craving fish for dinner. how typical."
Abby shook her head as Zeng stalked the large fish, as he pounced in on it a strange shadow bursted out of the water grabbing him around his neck. Kerric was the first on the scene as he tried to cut the shadow but his blade had no effect then out of the water came an otter wearing gauntlets that apparantly controlled the shadow and Shayde instantly recognized him as his old friend Samiake or Sam to his friends.
"Sam?!? Sam it's me Shayde!"
"I thought I recognized you! who're these guys?"
"Oh their alright you can put him down."
Sam simply shrugged his shoulders and dropped Zeng in the water leaving Kerric to help him out while Shayde gave Sam an update as to what was going on and Sam instantly decided to join them without a second thought and soon He Shayde and Xani entered the cave while the others waited.
The cave was humid since it was behind a waterfall and all around they could hear water dripping and as they got deeper and deeper into the cave they finally spotted the gem in plain sight lying on a pedastal.
"Well this was easier than I thought-HEY!"
Suddenly a small orb of light and dust zipped all around Xani knocking her off her feet and the strange orb landed on the tip of her nose.
"A sprite!"
"Hi there i'm sparky! who are you people? why did you come all the way in here?"
The little sprite was full of energy as it darted all around the place making Shayde dizzy.
"Look sparky you're very nice and all but we really need to get that gem and be on our way."
And again the sprite stopped Xani as she yanked on her cloak pulling her away.
"NO! don't take that or the big scaly monster will come out!!"
"Big scaly monster? the dragon?"
"Mm hm! Mm hm! look what happened to last person who tried to take the gem!"
Sparky pointed out the remains of a thief that had clawed by the dragon but judging by the wounds it didn't seemed that bad and Xani just grabbed the gem with ease.
"Oh now you've done it! now big scaly monster will come and eat us!!"
"Uh no offense sparky but to a person your size everything's big."
Shayde had pointed out to the little sprite who just crossed her arms and turned in the other direction, suddenly the whole group fell into a trap door that led to a giant pool of water hidden deep in the cave, then Sam noticed something rising out of the water and from it came the water dragon that guarded the gem.
"When she said big..."
"She meant big..."
The group armed themselves as the creature prepared to attack, they knew this was a test to see if they were worthy of the gems power.
The End.
Sam is property of Arseus. Linda is Property of Terdburgler.