Pearl descended deeper into the cool waters. He could see the sword as well as the corals below. The sword hadn't reached the bottom yet. He pushed forward, lunging and reaching for the wooden hilt. After grabbing it by the pommel, Pearl shifted upwards and began swimming back to the surface.
"Pearl," Rel called out in his mind, "Would you mind doing something?"
"Good morning, Rel," Pearl greeted back, "What do you want?"
"Can you sense lifesong of humans in the near vicinity?" Rel asked.
"Of course," Pearl answered, then closed his eyes. He reached out in the water, listening, observing, feeling the presence of all living organisms. A thousand different types of auras ranging from tiny fishes to large overgrowth of corals, flashed in his mind. It overwhelmed him for a moment, but it faded when he began sorting. Separating the lifesong in plants from that in animal-like organisms. After another moment, he finally sensed humans. Twenty-one on Avi's Fortune, three of them being those of songmasters.
Pearl had almost reached the surface when he felt the collective presence of another group of humans approaching in their direction. And the sheer size of this group disturbed him.
"What is that?" Pearl asked Rel, to which she replied, "Trouble, most likely."
He rose from the water, taking in a deep breath of warm air. Taking a dip after exercising and sparring had relaxed his body and eased some fatigue in his muscles. He took a mental note of doing it more often, before turning his mind to more significant matters. He looked up and saw Eranae, who had her arm extended towards him. He grabbed it and she pulled him back to the deck.
"Rel spoke to you?" Eranae asked him, as he sat on the deck with his legs hanging over its edge. He looked at her and nodded, still too breathless to speak.
"Who many are there?" She asked next.
Pearl rose his head, watching straight ahead. A large ship, about three times as large as the vessel they were on, sailed in their direction. Then it came together. Eranae must have told Rel to ask him to check for the number of humans. He took in a deep breath and spoke clearly.
"About two hundred," He informed, "Give or take a few. Most of them are below the deck for some reason."
"The ones below the deck are oarsmen." Eranae explained, "So, it's a standard crew of a military trireme."
Her eyes shifted their form as she poured lifesong into them, adapting them to facilitate enhanced vision. She gazed at the deck, her eyes moving in a uniform rhythmic motion.
"They are mostly Renaari." She noticed, "How odd, I was expecting it to be Elaia."
Pearl tried to drain the water off his head. He opened the cord tying the hair and created a sphere of air in the palm of his hand. Then he burst open the sphere directly beside his head.
"It worked," Pearl grinned, ignoring the large ship before them for a moment, "My hair is somewhat dry now."
"Well, be sure to scribe down your discovery of this new application of Skysong. We will have it patented at the Great Archives of Yavireth." Eranae said with a stern smile.
"Really…" He exclaimed but then saw the sternness on her countenance. She was clearly not in the mood for this.
The rest of the crew had noticed the approaching ship and had gathered above. Each of them was armed, some carried axes while some held harpoons. Two of the older crewmen even carried bronze shortswords, which lay sheathed on their belts.
A chill ran down Pearl's spine as the prospect of the trireme being manned by pirates came to his mind.
"Calm down, everyone." Javius descended from the commanding platform, Jarine trailing him, "This isn't a pirate vessel. They are just here to collect the fee of passage."
The tension on the vessel receded as it was being replaced by an aura of relief.
"Tinus," Javius looked at the stout sailor with a sword on his belt, "I did tell you to pass on the word about this among the crew."
"Sorry, captain," the man apologised, "It got off my mind."
"And Master Pearl," Javius turned towards him, "Why is your upper body bare?"
"Oh, right." Pearl hurried to where he had left his vest, "I should probably be wearing this."
He put on the vest. The captain nodded absently and went about his work. The trireme had almost reached them and was now shifting direction so that they could align in the direction of Avi's Fortune.
"Permission to come aboard."