The Faceless Ones

Chapter Twenty-one. Opportunity Rings

The Sea Hag heard someone ringing her bell and rose to the surface of the lake. She poked her head out, making sure it wasn't the skeleton and the girl, back to inflict more pain.

She emerged from the lake and looked down at a man standing by the shore. "Who disturbs me?" she demanded.

"I do," the man said.

"What is your name? "

"I am Batu."

"That is not your name."

"It is the name I have chosen, and so it is my name.»The Sea Hag sighed. "Why do you disturb me? "

The man, Batu, looked at her. "You have been wronged, my lady. Fifty years ago I gave you a corpse, allowed it to slip beneath your waters; and now it has been stolen from you."

The Sea Hag snarled. "I am aware of what happened. What concern is it of yours?"

"I can offer you an opportunity," the man who called himself Batu said, "an opportunity to repay the ones who have wronged you."

"How?"

"It would mean moving you from this lake to the sea, my lady. Would you be interested in such an opportunity? "

The Sea Hag stared at him. "You would move me back to the sea? You could do that?"

"The world has changed since you were first trapped here. There are water tanks big enough to hold you and vehicles powerful enough to transport you. I ask again, my lady: Would you be interested?"

"Yes," said the Sea Hag, smiling for the first time in a hundred years. "Oh, yes.»