"Bye! Don't forget to eat your candy-canes everyday!" Imoen hung over the railing as she waved to the friends on Brynnlaw which she was leaving behind. She had shared months in their company, bared her soul to them whenever she had been lonely, but still it was not a tearful goodbye This time, she was not leaving Dradeel the elf, Tiax the gnome, Dili the shapechanger, Aphril the Seer and Tommy the dragon to a horrid fate in the Asylum, no. Dradeel had been given a job as a chef at the Skumm Bar, while Aphril would be placed under the Voodoolady's guidance to try to control her visions. Tommy would live on the island and would make any would-be evil pirate conqueror think twice before attacking the fun-loving pirates. Dili, in the meantime, would be going to live with Elayne, the pirate-princess.

And Tiax, well, he was planning to use the isle of Brynnlaw as a springboard to world domination. No real change there. Imoen had overheard a rumor in the Skumm Bar, however, that Tiax had hooked up with two lab mice to that effect, but she found that idea very silly indeed.

Imoen giggled as Dili ran across the docks alongside the departing swiftwind, changing from herself, into a rabbit, a cheetah and, finally, herself again. But then slowly, as Imoen bent ever more forward over the railing of the boat, the docks of Brynnlaw moved further and further out of sight.

"Bye!" Imoen shouted at her friends again as Tommy breathed flames into the air as a final farewell. "Byeeaaaieeee!" Shouted Imoen as she started to slide over the railing towards the water.

"Gotcha!" Imoen heard Laska say as the pink-haired mage found herself floating above the water. Looking up, she noticed Laska had her hand clasped around her belt.

"Good thing that belt of yours is 100% pure yochlol-leather," Laska said while she pulled up her sister.

"Gift from Viconia," Imoen chuckled and dusted herself off. Together the two sisters leaned on the railing on the other side of the Swiftwind to regard the open waters.

"...so I tell you," Jan droned as Keldorn was coiling up some loose ropes on deck. As usual, Viconia was at the helm barking orders to her crew, while Mook took her turn in the crow's nest. Dynaheir and Minsc were quarrelling on the fore-deck about the placement of the cannonballs. "That cousin George Dubya Jansen, black sheep of the family. Smells bad, dumb as a rock... Now that's not unusual for a Jansen, but whenever he opens his mouth this jumble of incomprehensible words in unstrung sentences come out... I tell you, have you ever heard of a Jansen with a spjeech inpfjedement?"

"Is there a Jansen without any vocal cords?" Keldorn asked hopefully.

"Yes, one," Jan said. "But he's found another way of communication. He communicates solely through his banjo... and boy, is he a chatterbox."

Keldorn fell silent for a moment. "Too bad," he finally said.

"Hey," Irylarr spoke as she stepped on deck and gazed into the distance beyond the horizon. "It looks like we'll be headed right into that storm over there."

"What storm?" Imoen asked. "Where? How do you know? Why are we headed into it?"

"Well," Laska said, "I think those huge black clouds at the horizon are a big tip-off. Besides, if we want to go to Athkatla, we can't avoid it."

"Will we really go to through a storm?" Imoen asked. "Is that safe?"

"Not to worry," Viconia called from the stern. "This ship is strong and well-built. It'll take ten storms before we'll be taking damage."

"Hmmm, that's what my other cousin George said. Yeah, George Kooney Jansen, very popular with the ladies, that one. Especially since he pretended to be an ER doctor to pick up the girls... They finally caught wind of his scheme when all his patients died, so he had to move on to pretend he was a captain. So, he loads this boat up with girls and sets sail into this big storm so that he doesn't have to go around it... he planned to freshen the load of girls at Waterdeep, you see? So, in the midst of the roaring waters, he shouts to the heavens : 'Dare to come and get me, foul winds! You shall not keep me from scoring!'. Too bad that huge twister called his bluff. The whole ship was sucked up into the air! But a few hours later, the coastal town of Smelly Fish were overjoyed by a very special type of rain. They made a song about it called 'it's raining girls' which rocked the Sword Coast for eight weeks straight! And poor George Kooney? Well, his death was shrouded in mystery. They found him in a grain-field with a boat on top of his head. Very strange, that...."

"On that cheerful note," Laska said, "I'll go down to the pantry to fix Rose some more chicken-soup. She's still not feeling too well."

"At least she won't be able to fix us breakfast in her current state," Imoen sighed.

"Imoen, that is not a very nice," Keldorn said. "But also completely understandable," he added.

"Yeah," Laska said, "I'm glad that Viconia was able to reattach your broken teeth, Keldorn."

"Who's ever heard of marzipan that's as hard as granite?" Imoen said. "How'd she manage to pull that one off."

"She mistook cement for the almond-paste," Laska sighed. "Cooking is not her forte. But, Keldorn, why did you keep eating that Marzipan?"

"I was trying to be polite," Keldorn grimaced. "She had worked very hard on it, after all."

"Yes, hard on breaking your teeth," Jan said. "Hmm, reminds me of a trick my uncle Bertrand used on a griffin. He make this candy called 'Beakbreakers' you see, and..."

"Hatches are battened!" Irylarr shouted against the wind to Viconia. "We're still working on the sails," she added, referring to Keldorn, Minsc, Korgan and Jan who were desperately trying to turn the sails out of the wind.

Wind and rain whipped through Viconia's long white hair and she braced herself behind the ship's controls, trying to steer the Swiftwind into the wind to keep the pressure of the storm from the ship. Still, the ship's sleek build and side-pontoons kept it from being bashed around by the high waves. The ship cleft through the waves like a knife through butter.

"Dammit," Viconia shouted as a high wave splashed across the deck, "how did that storm sneak up on us so fast?! It must be magical."

"Steer her into the wind!" Jan shouted at Viconia.

"What do you think I'm trying to do, you blasted gnome?!" Viconia shouted back. "It's not like I'm sleeping at the helm, here!"

"Try drunk!" Jan shouted back. "Like my uncle when he was piloting this olive-oil tanker Valdez and..."

"SHUT UP!" Viconia shouted back.

"What's going on out there?" Rose asked weakly as she wrapped herself in her blanket once more.

"I dunno," Laska said as she was lying on top of the blankets next to Rose and took a moment run her fingertips over Rose's cheeks. "I guess we hit that storm..."

"Is that why the deck is moving so much?"

"Oh, it's not that bad," Laska replied. "I think your cold might be making things worse."

"Don't you need to help out?"

"Yeah," Laska said and kissed Rose on the cheek. The elf moved to get up and sat on the edge on the bed to slip into her boots. "I guess I should... But I'll be back soon to check up on you."

"Bloody HELL!" Mook shouted from the Crow's nest. "LOOK! STARBOARD! NINE O'CLOCK! SAHAUGIN! SAHAUGIN!"

"What the bloody 'ell?" Korgan shouted, "I ain't be seein' 'im! Come on, fishy! I be feeling like fried sushi! HAR HAR HAR!"

"Why haven't they swarmed the ship, yet?" Irylarr said as she drew her blade. "That's their usual tactic."

Indeed, out in the sea, a lone Sahaugin was simply floating on the water, facing the ship's side. The fish-creature was not doing anything. It simply seemed to regard the boat.

"Could he be a rogue? Or a cast-out?" Dynaheir asked.

"I don't think so," Irylarr said. "But what's the stony tube on his shoulder?"

"What tube?" Keldorn said and looked at the distance, but, to be honest, he dared not admit that he could not even see the Sahaugin in question.

"Uh-oh!" Jan gulped. "If that is what I think it is, we're in deep griffin offal! Viconia, steer this boat away from that Sahaugin!"

"What?!" Viconia shouted into the wind. "Right into storm?! Are you mad?!"

A loud thunderlike sound exploded somewhere in the distance.

"Hurry back," Rose smiled as she turned to face the door of the room. There, Laska had just put on her vest and was preparing to leave. Laska smiled and blew Rose a kiss... But just a few moments later, as she was about to open the door, Laska heard a strange pop behind her. After turning around, she noticed with fascination that a large wooden cone with a metal tip was now penetrating the hull. Apparently, something had propelled it with enough force to slam it through the thick oaken wood of the hull.

"What the devil is that?" Rose asked.

"I don't know," Laska said. "Maybe we should..."

Splinters of wood suddenly pierced the air as the cone exploded with a force that would put a dozen combined fireball-spells to shame. The ear-deafening roar blasted through the room and Laska found herself being slammed into the wall. Bright light blinded her eyes as she felt dozens of splinters penetrate her skin. Suddenly, the vacuum caused by the explosion pulled Laska forward again, and she was barely able to grasp one of the beams. At once, the wind and wet air of the storm splashed into her face and against her body.

Laska's eyes were starting to regain her vision, but her sensitive ears had been taken completely by surprise by the explosion. Normally, if she was expecting a loud noise, she could control the flow of sound her ears would handle, but now, they had taken full brunt of the sound waves spread by the explosion. Laska had been temporarily deafened and was only able to hear an incessant ringing in her ears. Worse, the assault on her ears had left her disorientated and she was looking at her surroundings as if she had permanent vertigo.

Even though the haze, she could see that the biggest part of her bedroom was gone. The explosion had torn through three decks. One of the cannon from the deck above had fallen through the deck and was lying on one of the plant-alcoves built into the room. Wood and metal debris were everywhere, strewn across the room and the room next to hers, which had also been mostly torn up. Looking up, she could see the storm-clouds above.

Finally noticing the pain, Laska grimaced as she saw that a large splinter from her left upper arm had almost completely impaled it. The elf clutched the splinter with one hand and cried out in pain as she slowly pulled the bloodied shard from her flesh with an agonizingly slow pace. After tossing the offending splinter aside, she tried to step forward, only to collapse flat on her face because of the disorientation.

"Rose?" she croaked, not being able to hear her own voice. "Rose?"

Laska supported herself against the wall and forced herself to look through the room. Even though the haze almost caused her to vomit, she was panicked when Rose was nowhere to be found.... There was only one conclusion : Rose was somewhere in the roaring ocean facing her. Old fears gripped her by the throat, but there was no other choice... Laska staggered towards the hole in her once proud ship, let out a guttural scream and dived into the water.

The explosion rocked the Swiftwind violently. The deck was uprooted as the ship became a cork upon the waves. The captain's console Viconia was handling exploded suddenly, causing the startled Drow to fly backwards. The stunned Viconia collided with the railing and lost her balance, going over the side and into the water.

"Look out!" Keldorn shouted as the main sail suddenly caught wind due to lack of control and slashed across the deck. It was too late. Minsc, Dynaheir and Keldorn could do nothing as the wooden sail-holder knocked the wind out of them and tossed them overboard like rag-dolls. A piece of the mast broke off and landed on the wooden deck. The uprooted boards practically launched Korgan and Jan into the air, only to land in the water with a splash.

Mook had managed to fasten herself onto the Crow's nest enough to keep herself onboard, while Limryu and Irylarr held onto the railing. Imoen, however, was not so lucky. When she hurried to see what had happened to her friends, she slipped over the wet deck and hit the back of her head on the railing... in silence, Imoen slipped over the side and disappeared into the ocean.

Too late Laska found out that it was not wise to jump overboard in her disorientated state. Still, Laska pushed on. Rose had to be found. Underwater, Laska opened her eyes, feeling the salty water sting her eyes and her wounds. But she could not see Rose...

Frantically, Laska tried to find but the smallest sign of life from Rose, and was frustrated that even her elven senses could not help her. Suddenly, just as Laska was about to surface for air, a green scaled claw clasped her face, it's nails digging into her skin with great speed. Laska's startled cry caused all the air in her lungs to escape.

Laska punched and kicked, but her blows did not connect. In the meantime, her lungs were bursting for air and she felt like they were about to explode. Fear gripped her by the throat once more... Drowning was the worst way she could think dying would be... She despaired as she saw the light of the sky above her, so close and yet so far away.

In a final act of desperation, Laska fished one of her throwing daggers from a small pouch in her belt and slashed wildly. Finally, she stabbed down and hit home. Laska smiled gleefully as she saw clouds of blood form into the water... but still, the grip on her face did not lessen. And to her shame, she felt why. To her everlasting shame, her disorientation had caused her to drive the dagger deep into her own leg.

She felt herself go weaker and weaker. Finally, the lack of air caused all strength and all will to fight fly from her body... And then there was only darkness.

Clutching, clutching, clutching... That was all Rose could think of. Clutching the large beam of wood to keep herself afloat. The sun mercilessly bore down on her, but Rose did not care... All she could think of was to clutch the piece of wood that was keeping her alive. She knew there was a big gash above her brow, and that she knew not how long she had been floating there... An hour? A minute? A day? A week?

Rose was thirsty, hungry, sleepy, sick and defeated. She had her eyes closed for the last hours and dared not open them. To open her eyes meant to confront herself with reality again... that she was lost on a trackless sea, floating on the water, never to be found again. She had often thought it would be easier to let go of the wood and let the sea swallow her... But no.

Suddenly, the wood bumped into something. For a moment, Rose was worried that she might have hit a shark, or a kraken, or something that might eat her... but then, she was hoisted up. That scared her even more. Rose decided she would have nothing of it and clutched the driftwood even tighter.

"Let go, it's okay, you can let go, Rose," she heard a voice say. Why not?

Suddenly, she felt herself lying on top of something hard... the sense of floating was gone.

"It's okay, Rose, you're on the Swiftwind," the voice said. "The storm is over."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Rose opened her eyes, only to see the Swiftwind in ruins. Sitting next to her were Limryu and Irylarr, while Mook tried to put a cup of water at her lips.

Rose drank eagerly from the water, and coughed when she drank too much at once.

"We're limping home," Mook said. "But the ship still works. We found the auxiliary console at the fore-deck."

"Laska?" Rose asked. "Where's Laska?"

For a moment, the three elves shared a look. "We've been looking for three days now," Limryu finally spoke. "But you're the first we've found."