The golden rim of the rising sun breached the distant horizon as the wizard's coach reached the pebble strewn hill which rose at the harbor's mouth. At the summit of the rocky rise overlooking the inlet, Seth-e-Raman's lighthouse stood. The structure rose fifty feet into the early morning sky. It was the most brilliant of the dozen or so lighthouses which dotted the various seaside ports of Arishamal. Its brilliance was due in no small part to the exquisite lens which magnified the oil-fueled flame behind it. In one of life's many small coincidences, Herman Corkspike, the wizard's new friend had created the masterful lens and was in the process of replacing it with an even finer creation.

The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the lighthouse and the wizards exited the coach. They looked in toward the harbor. The line of royal ships still blazed brightly and billowed smoke into the morning sky.

Robbi looked up at Vattus.
"How will we know which ship is the Deev's?" she asked.

Vattus kept his eyes on the inlet.
"It will be the first one out of the harbor. They doubtless began their run to escape as soon as all the ships were afire..." He squinted, then pointed into the harbor with authority, "There! That one!"

Robbi looked where he was pointing and immediately saw the ship to which he referred. A single ship, a mile ahead of the rescue flotilla moved steadily toward the smoldering hulks. Even as the rat watched, the canvas sails unfurled to catch the wind, not a maneuver that would imply their purpose was to rescue drowning mariners. When the sails were fully deployed, they began to billow as the wind filled their greedy canvas.

"Prepare yourself Robbi, leave no ounce of energy in reserve. I need that ships progress stalled as long as possible. If the Rubitar slips too far into the distance, I cannot possibly succeed."

"Yes Vattus," The young girl said with determination, gritting her teeth, "I will do my very best."

For the first time since they arrived at the lighthouse, Vattus looked down at his young ward. A smile of deep affection crossed his face and he bent over and kissed her gently on the top of her head.

"I know you will," he said simply and turned once more toward the dark smoke and burning lumber that had been the pride of the King's fleet.

The Deev ship Windspirit, sailed fully into the wind, breaching the blockade with little effort. She nosed past the sinking boats, ignoring the struggling men clinging to debris in the water. Ahead of her was the open sea and escape. Captain Mobus, at the helm, laughed loudly and urged his beasts on.

On the hill, Vattus turned to Robbi and uttered a single word.
"Now!" he instructed.

Robbi closed her eyes and focused, as she had learned to do under the High Magus' instruction over the previous years. She clenched her fists and tightened all her muscles. In her mind she envisioned a shield around the fleeing ship.

Vattus stepped back and watched in satisfaction as a soft glow encompassed her. He redirected his glance toward the ship. The sun was above the horizon now and a transparent bubble, reflecting the light of the dawn was clearly visible around the Windspirit. As suddenly as the sail filled with wind, the canvas went limp, shielded from the zephyrs by Robbi's spell. The ship slowed to a crawl.

"Good girl," Vattus said quietly as he stepped up to the edge of the cliff overlooking the Aurias Straits, "now maintain it as long and hard as you can. I can feel the Rubitar onboard. Targas help me in my task." He lowered his head and began to chant in a low guttural voice.

Onboard the Windspirit, Mobus was beside himself.
"Where did the wind go?" he demanded.

"It just...stopped," the first mate said, "there's something around us, some foul magic, I suspect."

Mobus thought for a moment.
"Everyone below decks and man the oars. We will pull away with or without the wind!"

Robbi was stock still, her body rigid, yet calm. Her eyes were firmly closed with paws now open at her side, palms facing the sea. A soft violet light encompassed her. At Robbi's side, Vattus was far more animate. The wizard was chanting loudly now, repeating the same incantation louder and louder.

"Animus zephus ungash terrimas neuras,
Animus zephus ungash terrimas neuras,
Animus zephus ungash terrimas neuras,
Animus zephus ..."

At the point where his chant reached a crescendo, he suddenly thrust his arms and hands out in front of him in the direction of the Windspirit. Tendrils of dark smoke shot from his hands, spreading up and outward. A grimace of pain spread across his features, but he continued reciting the arcane verse, over and over.

The vaporous mass shooting from Vattus' body formed into a massive globe-shaped cloud a hundred yards in front of the magician, over the edge of the hill-rise and about three hundred feet above the water. Vattus drew his arms back towards his body, hands pointing inward. To someone watching from a distance, it would appear as though he were pulling an invisible ball to his chest. His body quivered with exertion. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes and ran down his cheeks. The spherical cloud churned and rotated at an accelerated rate.

On board the Windspirit, all the Deev, with the exception of Mobus, who remained at the helm, were below deck pulling furiously at the oars. The ship bucked at every stroke, moving only slightly with each pull. The crate containing the Rubitar, which sat in the center of the space between the oarsmen, quivered and hummed. A red mist oozed out between the slats of the box.

With the mystical cloud in front of him now spinning like a top, Vattus thrust his arms upward. It was as though a dam broke. The dark cloud shot forward, half dropping to the sea and the remainder rising to the increasingly overcast sky. The rotational movement continued in the sea and sky.

Slowly, imperceptibly at first, a spinning column of water began to rise from where the smoke had descended into the Aurias Straits. It rose higher and higher, spinning faster and faster until it became a towering waterspout, a liquid tornado, hundreds of feet high. The sky was black now. Lightning cracked and waves began to churn. The cone shaped storm undulated and twisted like a dancing cobra. For a brief instant it was absolutely still, then, just as suddenly it turned and headed in the direction of the fleeing ship.

The Windspirit was bucking now, battered by waves and wind. Mobus looked back toward land in horror. An immense column of  spinning water was bearing down on the ship. The vessel itself was creeping forward, barely moving, while the storm was barreling toward them. Panic overtook the Deev captain. He abandoned the steering wheel and rushed to the steps leading down to where his beasts were rowing. He popped his head down and shouted.
"Everybeast! Above Decks!" He noticed the crate. The wood on its exterior was charring, it shook as though something were trying to escape. He thought quickly.
"The Rubitar is cursed! It will kill us all! Bring up the crate!"

Four Deev tried to lift the crate, dropping it almost immediately.
"It's red-hot!" one of them shouted above the din of crashing waves and wind.

"If we don't get it above deck, we'll all die!" Mobus shouted angrily.

The Deev looked back and forth amongst each other and steeled their nerve. Grabbing the scalding box, they rushed up the steps, crying out in pain as their paws burned. Unable to carry it further than the top of the stairs, they dropped it. Steam rose from their charred paws. The crate shattered when it hit the deck. The Rubitar rolled out, glowing bright red, shooting steam as the rain hit it. The plank on which it came to rest burst into flame.

Mobus looked at the towering maelstrom about to engulf them and rushed to the scorching crystal. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself, he bent over and clutched the blistering stone to his chest. He screamed out in pain and ran to the edge of the deck as quickly as he could, chucking the crystal overboard and collapsing in a quivering heap at the rail.

As the Rubitar hit the salt water an explosion of steam billowed outward. The magic crystal slowly sank beneath the turbulent waves. As it drifted deeper and deeper, the wind and rain began to decrease in volume. The imposing maelstrom which towered above the Windspirit ceased its forward motion and its rotation slowed. Finally the deceleration of the tornadic motion reached the point where the Waterspout simply ceased to be, dispersing, in a puff, to nothing more than mist and water. The clouds disappeared and the sea calmed. Sunlight glistened over the still waters.

On the cliff, Vattus collapsed to one knee. He turned to Robbi.
"Stop child, it is finished," he said weakly.

Robbi relaxed her body and sank to the ground, breathing heavily.
"Did it work?" she asked anxiously. Looking toward the Windspirit, she could see the sails once more filling with wind. The ship glided out of the Straits and out to sea.

"Oh no!," she cried out, "We failed!" She began to sob.

Vattus eased himself beside his small ward and draped his arm around her shoulder. He looked her gently in the eye.
"No, Robbi," he smiled, "we have succeeded. The Rubitar is safe in the depths of the harbor, shielded by a hundred feet of water. It is out of Azmeritus' reach. The fact the Deev have escaped is of no great consequence, they leave us empty handed. They may well have the Abitar, but the Rubitar is still within our realm."

He kissed her on the forehead.
"You did an incredible job. You are more powerful than I had hoped."

Robbi wiped the tears from her eyes and a smile grew on her lips.
"Me?" she chuckled warmly, "You were the amazing one. That storm! I've never seen anything like that!"

Vattus tried to stand, but fell back to his knees. He laughed quietly.
"Maybe I am as good as everyone says, but there is one thing I can't do."

"What's that?" Robbi asked.

"Make it back to the coach without your help, I am completely drained."

Robbi helped the High Magus stand and guided him back to the carriage. The two wizards climbed aboard and the coach team pulled them back to the palace.

On the Windspirit, the Deev licked their wounds in relief. One warrior had been swept overboard and lost at sea. The four who had carried the crate sat painfully nursing their severely burned paws. Captain Mobus lay groaning on the deck, his arms and chest horribly scarred. He passed into unconsciousness and his crew carried him to his cabin. As a Deev applied a poultice of herbs to the damaged tissue, he could not help but notice the unmistakable outline of the Rubitar burned deep into the Deev captain's chest, a reminder of their failure and a taunt as to how close they came to success.

Robbi, Chumley, Gladiverserac, Herman and Winnie sat around Vattus' bed in his quarters. The High Magus looked fatigued, but comfortable. The color had returned to his face and he sat, propped up by pillows. He quietly related the details of what had happened.

When he was finished Chumley asked a question.
"Did yah stop your spell-castin' once the rock was overboard?"

Vattus smiled.
"No, I didn't. Once the Rubitar sank into the deep the spell just ended. It is safe, that is what matters now. Retrieving it is not our highest priority. We must address the prophecies, and the Asherouboros."

"So what's our next move?" Chumley asked.

"We have to get the Asherouboros to the sea and we need to see Arisha again."

"How can we get the monster to the sea?" Robbi asked, "It's not like he's going to volunteer."

Vattus looked to Herman.
"I will need you and Chumley to head to Thoth. You will produce a glass enclosure to house the beast," he looked to Chumley, "you, my friend will have to capture or coax your 'pet' and get him into it. Then you must transport your passenger to World's End and somehow induce him to battle the Ürgod."

Chumley chuckled.
"Is that all? Piece o' cake, ain't it?"

Herman wore a deep frown. He spoke up.
"I hates bein' the one what quenches the fire, but I don't see how I kin make a piece of glass that big that'll be strong enough to hold all that water."

Robbi spoke up.
"The moles make a steel that contains pieces of Arisha's web. That steel is hundreds of times stronger the ordinary metal. It might work on glass too."

Vattus reached out and squeezed Robbi's paw gently.
"That is why I am sending you and Gladiverserac to Sapphire mountain. The prophecies reference a 'mother's gift', perhaps that's what it is, though the phrasing of the prophecies seems to imply that it's something else. You should leave as soon as possible, tomorrow morning."

Gladis perked up.
"I shall see the Golden Spider, can it be so?"

"Yes, Gladis, you will meet the Golden Spider." Vattus said softly.

"I fear I will swoon shortly, but fear thee not, to Sapphire mountain I shall take the wizard Robbi."

"Good. From there you will head to Thoth and assist Chumley, Herman, and..." the wizard smiled at the smaller of the two hedgehogs, "master Winnie. I fear that I will be of little use for a while. I will recover here and see if I can determine a way to retrieve the Rubitar. Is everyone clear on what must be done?"

One by one the five companions nodded their assent. While far from jubilant, hope was once more alive in the hearts of the friends