Seven miles to the east of the village lay the Port City of Lapishores. It was a long walk from the village, but a walk worth taking. For when the merchant ships arrived, they brought with them many fine luxuries, and people flocked from far and wide to buy what was imported. A group of women from the village had decided to make their way to Lapishores, and Crystal was among them. However, she was not on her own, for her son Jake, adopted daughter Bianca, and their friends Mia and Saren had came with her and the other village women.

The reasoning was simple: The four kids had proven themselves capable, and the more men that could stay behind rather than help escort the women on the long walk to the port, the more work could be done in the farms and the blacksmiths. None doubted they could handle a few bandits or the odd wild animal.

"So, what's everyone going to buy?" Bianca asked.

"Most of the women are going to buy silk, spices, cotton or perfumes. Most of the men asked them to bring back wine and mead." Saren noted.

"Well, I want to try and buy some different arrows." Mia added.

"Yeah, because you fired so many from all the bandits..." Jake said, grinning. There hadn't been any bandits, of course.

"We didn't want bandits, Jake." Crystal said.

"Just kidding. Besides, we must be close to the port by now. We've been walking for two or three hours."

He was correct. As they crested the next hill, the shoreline and the port lay before them. The large walled port city always made the villagers aware of just how small their village truly was, filled with activity and gleaming white buildings. The calm blue sea stretched into the horizon, broken up only by the dozens of ships that floated on it and the various smaller islands dotted around the port.

The gates of the ity were open, and the guards there greeted the travellers. As a city of commerece, Lapishores had to keep itself open to those coming in, but also had to be ready to stop any criminals, and so, the city had a sizeable guard force that quickly descended on any troublemakers. But for the most part, they simply stood around until needed.

"We'll head for the shore. The markets are close to the harbour." Crystal said to the four.

Soon, the group from the village reached the marketplace. It was packed with people and stalls, and more guards kept an eye out

"Now, you can go look around the city, but watch for pickpockets and beggars. A lot of the beggars try to distract people while their friends rob them."

"Okay, we'll be careful." Saren nodded.

***

In the same market, a shape hudddled below rags. The others like her shied away, knowing what she was if not who.

'A master of disguise, reduced to hiding like a beggar...'

To say things had gone wrong for her was an understatement. Twice she'd sought revenge, twice she had failed. Her takings gone, her gang gone, the former slaver was angry. Her efforts to get back on her feet had fallen flat. Her reputation had been damaged, as the news of her defeat at the hands of mere children had spread far. Some of her rival slavers had even had the gall to put a bounty on her, seeking to make her one of their prizes, one of their slaves. She'd already killed half a dozen bounty hunters who had tried, but for some reason, amongst the kind of hunter attracted to the prospect of capturing her to be sold to another slaver, the more people who had failed before simply made the hunt more intresting. And at this rate, she'd be killing bounty hunters all her life, and though it wasn't unpleasant, it was boring. It was beneath her.

It was also going to attract the attention of the guards in the city. She was set on leaving the area for some time, going to other parts to rebuild her forces. Then she could return and burn that miserable village to the ground. Turn the four brats to stone as momuments to their defeat. Enslave the village.

And then they walked past. Bold as brass and oblivious, the four idiots in question just blundered straight past her. She stared in shock for a moment, before deciding to follow. Maybe she could start now. Revenge. Third time lucky.

'I can't attack them now. They don't know I'm here...' She thought to herself.

For about ten seconds.

"Oh, to hell with it." She said, throwing her cloak aside and brandishing the dagger she hid below it. The four kids she was following turned, along with a few others in the crowd, to see her.

"Cylene!" Jake cried out.

"You recognise me this time!" She said, almost gleefully. She lunged, runnign straight past the surprised people milling around, dagger held high. But Jake parried her attack, drawing his own weapons quickly. Saren followed suit. Mia and Bianca had to hold back: Mia couldn't risk missing a shot and hitting a bystander, and Bianca was no match for the crazed shapeshifting slaver.

"Hey, what's going on here?!" A female guard yelled, running up as the surprised crowd began fleeing the melee.

"A fight, dummy." Cylene grinned leaping away from Saren and Jake.

"I think though, this place is too crowded. I prefer an island getaway..." she said, and began to run. The guard followed, along with the four she had attacked. Cylene dived into the ocean, the guard chasing behind.

"Wait, no, she's a shapeshifter!" Bianca cried, trying to stop the guardswoman.

But it was too late. A massive tentacle shot out of the water, heading straight for Bianca. With a scream, it held the girl aloft. The guardswoman halted, and tried to attack the tentacle. Before she could, another shot from the water, grasping her as well.

"Bi!" Mia cried out, aiming an arrow. It bounced off the scales of the tentacles, which were now swimming away.

"What did she turn into?!" Saren asked.

"A Kraken! And she's got Bianca and that guard!"

"Nothing funny!" A voice boomed. In the water, the kraken rose, and grinned. Cylene addressed her enemies.

"You try to attack or break the conditions I'm going to make, I break them." She warned. To prove the point, the tentacles constricted, both captives screaming in pain.

"What conditions?!" Jake shouted.

"I'll send one of them back as a token of goodwill with my message. I bet you can guess which one." Cylene said, before she swam away at top speed.

"Jake! What happened?!" Crystal yelled, running up.

"It was Cylene, mother! She took Bianca!"

Crystal stood shocked for a moment.

"We'll get her back." Saren said, determined.

"Yeah. And we'll take care of Cylene once and for all." Mia added.

***

The female guard returned, with a note, an hour later.  Sent back in a small rowing boat, the guard was exhausted as other guards sailed out to meet her.

"Note... What she wants... She poisoned me..." She gasped, before collapsing.

Her fellow guards rushed her to the temple to get her help, but the note she had carried had told them all Jake had expected. Him, Mia, and Saren to come to where Cylene was before the end of the day. None of the guards, or Bianca would die. They would use the same boat the guard had been sent back in. Jake realised why.

"It's barely big enough for four. Even if we win, we'll risk capsizing no matter how calm the water is."

But they had to agree, or Bianca would be killed. The three got into the small boat, realising how little room there would be once they saved Bianca. The note had told them the island Cylene had picked. It was well out of the way of the normal routes for ships. And after the long row there, they saw a beach. Tied to a pole and gagged, Bianca watched her friends approaching with wide eyes.

"She's tied up pretty tightly." Mia noted as they walked towards her.

"Where's Cylene?" Saren asked. There was nothing around. The island was bare, and there was no sign of any life but Bianca. The three went towards her. As they neared, they heard her muffled cries.

"She's trying to warn us... I'll keep an eye on our backs." Mia said.

"Okay. We'll watch the front." Jake said. The three got closer to Bianca.

"Wait. What if the trap is, Cylene has copied Bianca? She's a shapeshifter!" Saren realised.

Jake froze. Mia turned in surprise.

"What?!"

However, at that moment, a dart shot from the sea, striking Mia in the leg. She cried out, then realised in horror, her leg was turning to stone.

"I hadn't thought of that! Damn, I could have just drowned her then turned into something with a big mouth as you rescued her and ate you all!" Cylene grinned as she emerged from the water.

"You already have a big mouth!" Jake snarled.

"And you have a smart one."

"Guys, get her!" Mia urged, as the petrification swept up her, and turned her to stone.

"Basilisk venom is great, isn't it?" Cylene cackled as Mia petrified entirely, still urging the boys to attack.

"You heard Mia, Jake. Let's go." Saren said, charging.

"Wait! Watch out for more darts!" Jake warned, following.

"Pfft, darts. I only had one. I've got more up my sleeve than just darts." She grinned, and shifted shape again.

This was more subtle. He hair merged, and became alive. Bianca closed her eyes, and Jake realised the threat. But Saren kept charging. He realised too late as Cylene's new form stared at him.

"Gorgon..." he gasped, staring at her, and in an instant, turning to stone in mid-run. His statue form squelched into the wet sand as it fell.

"Come on, Jakey. Look at your old enemy..." Cylene cackled. Jake had his eyes closed.

"Keep talking." He taunted.

"Oh, why? So you know where I am? Maybe I'm walking up, to pull those eyes open and turn them to stone. I think that'll fit. You four, on this beach, worn down by the tides to mere pebbles..."

"I just wish you couldn't swim." Jake said.

"What does that mean?" Cylene said, puzzled.

Jake answered with a powerful psionic wave. It was so powerful, Cylene found herself hurled for miles out to sea. Jake had used her voice to track her and make the blast hit head on.

"Bi, are you alright?!" He asked, rushing up and freeing her.

"I'm okay, but Mia and Saren..." Bianca said, horrified. Jake looked at the small rowing boat.

"We'll need to leave them and get help... We'll sink for sure with them on board now they're stone."

Bianca held back tears, knowing it was true.

"But what if Cylene comes back?"

"She won't. She's going to land miles away... Let's go get something to save Saren and Mia."

***

The lighter boat was faster and got back to town quickly. The two went straight to the temple, where they found a priestess of the temple waiting.

"You must be Jake and Bianca. What has happened to your two friends?"

"Cylene petrified them. Do you have any curing scrolls?"

"I will look." The Priestess said and left to check.

"Just a minute. Where's the shapeshifter?" A guard challenged.

"I blasted her into the ocean. She's long gone if she survived." Jake reported. The guard nodded.

"Good. I hope she did live and that the landing hurts like hell. She poisoned my girlfriend. She'll be okay, but she was in agony from that posion."

"I'm afraid we have no scrolls, but we can make a potion to reverse the effects. It will take some time. Where are the victims?" The Priestess said as she returned.

"We had to leave them behind." Bianca said, sadly.

"Well, we need the potion to be administered as soon as it is mixed, or it boils away." The Priestess said.

"We'll go fetch them." Another guard offered quickly.

"Thank you." Jake said, telling them the island.

"We won't be long. Just have the potion ready for mixing." The first guard said as the two left, taking a larger boat than Jake and Bianca had returned in. They took with them half a dozen other guards.

"Be careful. Saren sank into the sand a little." Jake warned.

The guards soon came back though, bringing the two statues. They'd even tried to remove some of the sand from Saren. The Priestess meanwhile had prepared the ingredients of the potion. First, she applied it to Mia. The green potion hissed as soon as it left the bottle, landing on the stone and evaporating right away. But with it, the grey began to change to the normal flesh of a restored Mia. The same applied for Saren a few moments later. The pair stood stiff as the potion depetrified them, and then, they blinked.

And then Saren spat out the sand in his mouth.

"Ghaa! I hate that!" He protested.

"Better to have some sand in your mouth than stone everywhere else..." Mia grinned.

"I'm glad you two are okay!" Bianca said, happily.

"Okay, now what?" Jake asked.

"Well, we go do what we came here to do. Find your mother, let her know we're okay, and go shopping of course." Mia grinned.

"I agree." Bianca said.

"Can we get something to get this sand out of my mouth first..." Saren whined.

"We'll get you some water, now stop whining..." Mia teased as the four left the temple. They were soon reunited with Crystal, and soon after, they finally finished their shopping trip...