Innai

They did indeed arrive to a sandy shore of a little island. There were boats decorating the shoreline and Serenica thought that the people who lived here probably went fishing often. Otherwise the island looked rather barren. There were strange trees with long leaves erupting at the top of their trunks. The Admiral said they were palm trees. Serenica didn't know if he was lying. She had thought palm trees to be different.

She was given the option to stay on the shore, but she preferred to go to the inland area with Spade and Myorka. They said they needed diplomacy. Serenica considered herself to be adept in that. She hadn't been killed yet, after all.

She was surprised when the ground began to get wetter and wetter with every step. It didn't take long until they reached some sort of a swamp and it became perilous to not watch where one's foot fell down. There was a smell of putrefaction in the air. The roots of the trees were visible and every now and then something dropped from up above, bird excrement, most likely, as the noises of the tropical swamp were deafening and the avian species plentiful.

Serenica was sweating. It was only now that she recognized the massive shift in the climate. If Neul was suffocating during the wet season, this place was lethal. The moisture clung onto her like a second skin. For a moment she thought she'd soon smell as horrible as the swamp itself.

"Why would anyone live on an island like this?"

"It's peaceful here. Innai likes his solitude," the captain replied. He had somehow kept his expensive shoes from getting dirty. Serenica was not as good at that.

"And you won't tell me who Innai is?"

"He's a fellow witch, but you'll soon find out."

At that very moment the swampy ground let out a gurgling noise.

Serenica had seen a lot of swamps and none of them made noises like that.

She jumped instantly towards the nearest climbable tree.

Spade laughed at her.

"It's a natural process! All the decay gets stored in the layers and sometimes they shift. Calm down and get down."

Serenica refused. She thought she'd seen the ground move. Upwards. She had no intention to submit herself to its gaping maw.

The captain laughed again, but this time his chuckle was cut short by another groan from below, this time such an unnatural and loud noise that even Spade was visibly startled.

"All right, Ingram's right, Myorka! Climb a tree!"

The bookkeeper flung herself over a low-hanging branch, but for the captain there were no suitable trees as he was a very large man and the branches would have been split under his weight.

"Ingram, I have a mission for you! You try and get Innai! You have to go straight towards the opposite shore until you find a cottage."

"I'm not a bloody monkey!"

"You have to be a bloody monkey right now. The swamp protects him from intruders. He'll understand if you use my name. Ask him to call the swamp off."

The ground was rising every passing moment and no longer were the shiny shoes of the captain so shiny. It was clear that the swamp had been infused with human hostility. Unnatural, yes, but not inhuman. It was as if the sun had been darkened, too, for there was only a little light reaching through the treetops and the birds were cawing, panicked.

Serenica found a foothold that allowed her to move onto another tree, she engaged her core muscles and swung her body onto the sturdy branch. She staggered and only an epiphytic plant offered her something to stabilize her position.

She crawled on the branch and reached another. She went on all fours now, desperately trying to keep her balance.

After three more trees she began to get the hang of it. She was grateful that the supposed palm trees only populated the shore of the island. These other ones were much sturdier for climbing, offering their branches willingly in some ancient feud with the ground below.

She lost sight of her friends and when she was exhausted, with her arms burning from the sheer effort it took to hold herself up on the branches, the swamp ended abruptly and gave way for large rocks.

Serenica jumped down and sprinted north.

Innai's cabin was a peculiarly rectangular little building, elevated from the ground and surrounded by plants that looked very unfortunately very poisonous,

She wondered how anyone was supposed to get past them.

As she was contemplating whether a bush that looked distantly familiar would kill her, someone called to her, with a yell that sounded more like a question. The voice was soft and sophisticated and Serenica was startled, utterly confused after hearing something so civil in the middle of such ugly and treacherous terrain.

"Who goes there?" the male voice asked.

"I am a friend of Captain Spade," Serenica yelled back.

The bushes parted to reveal a pale old man in a practical suit. His expression was puzzled, yet not anxiously so, and Serenica was so overcome with relief that she instantly liked the old fellow.

"I know that now, but your name, it is still a mystery. Answer at once before the bushes take you."

"Lots of hostile nature around here. Oh well. I am Serenica Ingram."

"I am Innai. What is so wrong that Spade sent someone called Ingram, whom I have never met? Do you know me from a past life?"

"Your swamp is trying to eat Spade, so yes, I kind of know you. Or your work."

"Oh, bugger!" Innai cursed. "Come inside."

Serenica followed the man. The bushes did not seem to be attacking them now, on the contrary, it was as if they withdrew their thorns the moment they looked away. For this reason they couldn't move as swiftly as Serenica would have liked to. They had to stop often and pretend they didn't see the vegetation move like animals.

They climbed up the stairs to the cabin and Innai opened the door.

Inside there was so much occult paraphernalia that Serenica got instantly nauseous from the strong magical energy. Whoever lived here was a witch.

"What is he doing here?" the old man said. "What is Spade doing here? I thought he had no intention to meet me again after last time."

"We need your help in repairing our ship," Serenica said. "Mister."

"I can call off the swamp, but I can't help with that other thing. My trees are precious to me."

Innai picked up a bottle full of blue liquid, threw it in the fireplace and with great effort walked towards a reptile skull placed in the bookshelf. Apparently his bones were not in a young or agile mood. He turned the skull around and Serenica heard a bubbling sound coming from somewhere below.

"Now the swamp will fall back and let him pass," the old man said. "Who are you, young lady, who are you if you're so important that Spade lets you be his messenger?"

Serenica explained her identity as quickly as she could. The episode in the trees had taken a toll on her. She was still upset and tired and surprisingly alert despite everything.

"Come sit with me. If you're a healer, we can have something in common if we so desire. A witch to a witch kind of talk, Ingram."