The Lost Library of Cormanthy - Mel Odom [103]
"No," Baylee answered honestly.
Xuxa hung from the rigging above Baylee's head, and Civva Cthulad stood to one side by the railing, alone.
"The one discovery sparked an intense search by someone," Uziraff said. "Had there been another, I'm sure it would have done the same. That pictograph had been down there for a long time. No one has been looking."
Baylee silently concurred. "Why are you so sure this is the spot from the lizard man's description?"
"Because I can see what you can't." Uziraff took a tube from inside his jacket and uncapped it. He handled the sheaf of parchment inside tenderly, carefully unrolling it. He displayed it to the two rangers. The parchment was completely blank. "What do you see?"
"Nothing," Baylee replied. Cthulad agreed.
"But I do," Uziraff said. "This map possesses great magic. It only has a limited number of uses, so I don't use it often. I didn't use it when the lizard man brought me out here, but now that you're here, following up the trail Golsway gave you before he died, I felt it was well worth the investment. And it was. The ship you're seeking lies just beneath us, two hundred feet down."
"I've never heard of such a map," Cthulad said.
Baylee had, though he knew that they were very rare. On the sea, it could automatically map a circle sixty miles across, even though the ship had not been there. And it would include avian creatures over twenty-five feet long, and sea creatures over twenty feet long. On land, that distance was cut to forty miles.
Only the map's user could activate the magic inherent in the map.
"The ship is down there?" Baylee asked.
"A ship is," Uziraff agreed. "I can think of no others that would be. From what I have seen in the map, the shipwreck is broken into a number of pieces."
Baylee's sudden enthusiasm outweighed even his wariness of the pirate captain. "Then it's time we found out." He reached into his bag of holding and found one of the vials he'd gotten from the apothecary.
I must admit, Xuxa said, this is the one part of your plan that disturbs me most. I don't like the idea of being separated from you. And you will be out of range of my call should you need me.
There's no help for it. Baylee unstoppered the vial and drank deeply. The liquid burned the back of his throat going down, and filled him with a lightness of being that felt almost euphoric.
"You'll be careful down there, lad," Cthulad said quietly.
"I think you're the one who has the more dangerous part," Baylee replied.
"A yard of good steel makes a warrior a mighty good neighbor," the old
ranger said. "These baying dogs won't dare attack me without feeling they have the upper hand. And Xuxa is waiting in the wings, so to speak, to tilt the scales."
"Get a net over the side," Uziraff bellowed.
A half-dozen sailors ran to do his bidding, heaving a mass of weighted nets over the side.
Baylee looked at the pirate captain.
"I claim rights of salvage," Uziraff said. "You paid me to bring you here, not to transport anything back for you."
"I expected no less from you," Baylee replied. "All I want is a look."
Uziraff looked somewhat troubled by the way the ranger took the announcement.
Does he have a clue? Baylee asked Xuxa.
That you are lying to him? the azmyth bat asked. No. From his surface thoughts that I have access to, he clearly believes he has the upper hand.
Then let him continue thinking that. Baylee stepped to the ship's railing. "But don't expect me to load it for you."
"I don't." Uziraff took a vial one of his men handed him. He drank it down deeply, then accepted the backpack another gave him. "I'm coming with you. Didn't you think I wouldn't have had you followed to the apothecary's to find out what you'd purchased from him?"
Instead of answering, Baylee threw himself over the side of the cog. The potion filled him with its magic. He drew in a deep breath, taking oxygen from the water