“How did the pirates take your ship?”, asked the thin air.

The starving merchant nearly jumped into the water in fear, but settled from falling back against the wall of the ship. “Where are you?”, he cried.

“How did the pirates take your ship?”, the invisible stalker repeated. The creature had decided since it’s task was to kill all of the thieves who took the ship, he would need some information as to their prowess.

“First tell me who you are and where you are!”, dared the merchant.

“I am of the Sshai. I was sent by the shipmaster in Specularum. And I am right beside you.” “Specularum! Great! You need to tell them of our location!” The merchant pulled out a piece of paper and started writing down their location. The stalker decided to let him finish then repeated his question for the third time.

“Magic.”, replied the merchant, “They used the illusion of a dragon to scare us onto this ship, which is now out of food. If you don’t get word back in time, we will all starve to death before we reach the shore!” “Of course.”, replied the invisible Sshai, “But you must answer my questions first. Who created the illusion and were there any other spells or feats you witnessed?” “None. And I don’t know who did it. I never even saw any of them. I just saw the dragon and got word of what really happened afterwards. Here, take this.”, said the merchant, holding out the scroll with the ship coordinates.

Without a word or hint of departure, the stalker flew up and away from the ship towards the Isle of Dread, leaving the merchant talking to the breeze for a couple of minutes, before the grim realization set in.