The sun looked like a moon through the swirling dark clouds above the tall trees, which mostly covered the sky with their enormous leaves. To see through the darkness, Tashina lit a candle inside a lantern and hung it on a rod at the front of the boat.

"Suuuuuuuuuuuuh." She turned around, crossing her legs beneath her skirt, facing Lucy and her companions. "Suh who mi lovely rescuers? An wah mek yuh rescue mi inna di fos place? Hmmmmmm?"

"My name is Lucy," the Cocker spaniel answered, "and my companions are Charles and Ivy."

Ivy held up her hand. "I'm new with them. We are looking for the Howling Caverns here."

Tashina glared her eyes at Ivy. “Mi believe mi seen yuh before? Yuh did wid Captain Miller, right?”

“Yes, he is my captain. We rescued you so you can help us find him at the Howling Caverns. He hasn’t returned to me for days!”

"Eff yuh captain inna there him aready dead. Sorry, but it cud be chuu."

Ivy lowered her ears while frowning. Lucy could see the tomboy had lost some hope.

"What do you know about the Howling Caverns?" Charles asked, rowing the longboat behind the girls.

Tashina pursed her lips to a thin line. "Mi grandmotha tell mi one story dat haunt mi from di darkness itself. Howling Caverns isn't a cave at all but a prison fi di dead. Mi ancestas sacrificed themselves afta dem build it. Wid voodoo magic dem reanimated themselves inna living corpses watching ova dem treasure. Any living wanda who entas dem domain wi neva si di light of day."

Charles held up a finger. "But it's always dark here."

Tashina glared at him before she laughed. "Most of di victims foolish sailas like yuh. Wi witches cleva enuff nuh fi disturb fi wi ancestas. Yuh tink yuh ave di right tuh tek wah nuh belong tuh yuh. Den yuh pay di coincidences. Heeheehee. Ow does it feel wen karma gets you?"

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Then what gives your tribe the right to steal from the settlers? Hmmmmm?"

Tashina hissed. "Yuh settlas stole fi wi island! Mi tribe did wah helps dem survive!"

Charles chuckled. "Just like what a pirate would say."

Tashina smiled at him. "Yaah wah handsome looking lad. Heeheehee. Mi wouldn't mind having a jink wid yuh."

Charles gulped and fixed his collar. "Uuuuuuuuuuuh, not likely I'm afraid."

Tashina frowned like she got heartbroken. She wasn't ugly, but she looked like a psychopath living in the wild. And her vinegar dirty smell was a complete turnoff.

"Can you please bring us to the Howling Caverns?" Ivy begged. "I need to know what happened to my captain. I don't care if he is dead, or not. I must find out!"

Tashina gazed at Ivy. "Yuh wa fi risk yuh life fi him? Why? Wah ave him eva did fi you?"

Ivy grimed at the boat floor while tightening her grip on her legs. "He'sss….. Like a father to me."

Tashina nodded. "Gwaan."

"Before I became his cabin girl, I was the daughter of Count Matinee on Casper Island. My father raised me to become a gentlewoman for a future suitor so he could expand his sugar trading company. I didn't want to marry anyone and become their housewife. I wanted an adventure and the freedom to do whatever I like. And I never felt like being a girl. Deep inside, I felt more masculine and daring than being a feminine damsel. But my father never accepted who I really am. He kept beating and forcing me to follow the lady-like roles on his island. I hated him! I hated what he tried to change me into!"

Lucy's mouth hung. Her father would never scorn her to become a typical lady on a pedestal for marriage. He always taught her to be strong so she could take care of herself with no one's help. Women who relied on men to take care of them had never survived alone. He believed everyone should fight on their own, no matter what gender they have.

"That is bollocks," said Charles, "anyone should be allowed to become strong. The sea is never friendly to everyone."

"On Casper, cat women are supposed to depend on men," Ivy explained. "It is only their dumb fancy tradition."

"Ow yuh meet Captain Miller?" Tashina asked.

Ivy smiled. "After my father locked me in my room for refusing a marriage proposal, I dressed up as a boy and escaped to a tavern. Two drunks tried to harass me there until a big bear knocked them out. He was Captain Miller, my big-time hero. Heeheehee. I told him I was a runaway, looking for a way off the boring-ass island. Since he didn't care who I was, he offered me a job on his ship. His pirate crew was friendly too. They treated me like I was one of them, not as a lady. And I like that!

"After we escaped, Millar taught me how to steal, spy, and clean up the decks too. Being a cabin girl was rough sometimes, but it was better than living in a mansion where you could barely do anything without the servants bugging you. If it weren't for Millar, my life would be miserable."

"What about your mother?" Lucy asked. "How did she feel when you left?"

"Oh, my mother died after my birth….. My father never told me much about her. He only thought of her as a lost trophy wife."

"Ow disrespectful!" Tashina exclaimed.

"Sorry to hear that," said Lucy, lowering her tone into empathy. "My mother died too, and my father never let me forget about her."

Ivy nodded. "I don't care if my father was worried about me or not. In fact, I think he doesn't care about me at all….." She punched the right boat side. "But Captain Miller is more of a father to me than Count Martinee! That is why I must find him!"

Tashina grinned. "Yaah wah typical swashbuckla. I'd admire dat. Heeheehee."

"Will you help us?”

The hyena drummed her fingers on her lap. "Well, since mi ave nowhere else fi guh, mi wi help yuh."

Ivy smiled widely. "You will?"

Tashina held up her finger. "Ongle eff yuh let mi join yuh crew."

"Charles and I are actually here to find a crew," said Lucy with a grin on the covers of her lips. "Ivy promised to join us after we find her pirates."

Tashina giggled. "Dis should be interesting."

"Indeed, so where are the Howling Caverns?" Charles asked.

Tashina glanced at the river where a loud sound of rushing water echoed ahead. "Wi close now."

"Huh?" Before Lucy knew it, the longboat slid down a waterfall into a pit of darkness.

*****

"Lucy! Wake up!" Ivy shook Lucy's shoulders until the cocker spaniel opened her eyes and coughed out water. She was lying on solid ground as the cat girl stood over her. And an arching pain burned inside her head.

"Are you okay?" Ivy asked harshly.

Lucy got up and rubbed her head. "I'm fine. What happened?"

Behind her, the longboat laid upside down on a shore near an underground lake. The waterfall roared in the back and there was no light inside the cavern for Lucy to see.

"We fell through a giant hole at the end of the river," Ivy answered. "The landing wasn't soft."

“This headache told me already.” Lucy glanced around, spotting Charles and Tashina touching the cavern wall, probably searching for something. But what was it?

She approached Charles. "What are you doing?"

The wolf focused on rubbing his hands across the rough surface on the wall. "Tashina said there is a secret entrance to the dungeon here. We are searching for the mechanism to open it."

"She was here before?" Ivy asked behind Lucy.

Charles turned around and shrugged. "In her vision she said, but I'm not sure if she is crazy or not."

Ivy crossed her arms. "She sure sounds crazy when I first met her. But we can trust her. My captain wouldn't had found the dungeon without her words."

"Mi find it!" The hyena pulled a stalagmite down on the ground, making a clanking sound. Then a dark pathway opened in the wall.

Tashina gestured to the entrance with a grin. "Dis a di way inna di caverns. Follow mi."

You discovered the Howling Caverns!

Unknown to the settlers, the caves make howling sounds every time the winds blow through. The Black Foot tribe discovered it, searching for a hidden chamber to hide their stolen goods. After constricting their treasury chamber, guarded by traps, Chief Boogaloo murdered his tribe and resurrected them to become the guardians of his domain. But his dark power costed his soul, trapping him in the caverns for eternity. Only conquering his cavern will set him free, but his spirit will allow no one to escape alive. Good luck if you enter the Black Foot tribe's cursed tomb.

An icy chill went up to Lucy's spine as she heard the whispering winds escaping from the entrance. Indeed, the winds sounded like howling noises from the caverns.

Lucy's legs shook, but she knew she has to go in there for the sake of helping Ivy and completing her quest. Otherwise, she won't get a crewmate and grow stronger. Facing her fear was one challenge she has to overcome to reach her goal. "Alright, you lead the way while we follow you."

Tashina nodded and held out her palm. She closed her eyes until a yellow floating orb appeared over her palm. She glanced at her light and smiled. "Okay, now wi guh."

Lucy and the others followed the hyena through the secret passageway. It leads them through a short tunnel where a stairway headed down at the end.

With Tashina's light spell, Lucy could see sparkling glitter on the smooth walls and stone steps on the staircase. Nothing could ambush them as long as they have light.

"How do you know where to go in here?" Lucy asked while walking down the stairway behind Tashina. "You sound like you been here before."

Tashina chuckled. "Wi witches connect tuh fi wi ancestas here. Wah dem kno mi cya kno. Fi be honest, mi did neva here before. But mi visions guiding mi like a map. Dem help mi guh weh wi muss guh inna here."

"So, you can detect traps and creatures before we run into them?"

"Yea, but mi nuh sure." Tashina glared down at the stairway. "Mi cud tell weh di traps might be. Creatures an zombies cud cum from aniweh widout mi knowledge. Dem nuh stay inna one place foreva."

Lucy kept her hand on her sheath. If the witch doctor's senses were limited, who knew when someone could jump out from the darkness.

This was the first time Lucy has ever entered a dungeon. And hopefully, it won't be her last one.

Below the doorway, they strolled through an archway, entering a long dark tunnel with a river and stalagmites hanging across the ceiling. Roots stretched along the walls from the ceiling, like veins crawling out. The howling wind grew louder through the tunnel, as if a wolf was blowing through it. Of course, Charles was a wolf, but he wasn’t the one blowing through the tunnel. When Lucy stepped into the water, the coldness shivered up through her legs, tickling her insides. It felt like freezing water from the frozen sea where the water was always cold, night and day.

“Is this entire cavern are water tunnels?” Ivy asked while holding her musket rifle.

“It a waah maze of tunnels,” Tashina answered, “Widout mi yuh wi get lose an become easy prey tuh di guardians here.”

Ivy glanced around. “Maybe that explains why my captain has been gone for a long time. He might be wandering through these caverns still.”

“Highly doubt dat, gyal. Nobody cya laas here fi a day widout finding di treasure chamba. Eff him alive him wouldn't be here.”

Ivy glared. “Then where else could he-”

Lucy screamed and looked down. “Something caught my leg!”

Tashina turned around and widened her eyes. “Great voodoo!”