Pirate's quest (a fantasy short-story in the Steemmonsters universe)

The magic that it contains will transform you. An aura of glittering gold from the deep blue sea…

These are the words that have driven me for seven years now. Each morning I wake up from a dream of drowning with them ringing through my head. The one who spoke them is as old as the sea itself. She saved me. As my ship lay in ruins in the wine-dark sea and I slipped, weak and dying into the depths. I have a destiny and it seems it's finally at hand.

In the storm that took the Narwhal I lost all my crew except the one that sails beside me now. Lana, faithful hound that she is has been with me these seven years. She was only a pup when the storm wrecked us but somehow that tiny scrap of life was spared alongside my own. Together we clung to a beam of wood that delivered us onto a far flung beach deep in Azmare’s Great Archipelago. I lost everything else that night. Including the key.

Now it may seem a trivial thing to worry about - what is a key compared to all the lives that were taken with that ship? But the thing is, the symbol it bore matched the map I carried in my breast pocket. The map that had taken us onto that treacherous stretch of sea in the first place. It took me six of the previous seven years to track it down - a curiosity washed up in some tiny market of the isles. Still attached to the chain that had slipped off my neck in the surging water that night. The map has guided us to the shore we stand on now, deep in the steaming jungle isles. The dark realms of the Ancient Naga.

I look over at her, stoic black dog that she is, and she gives a little whine.
‘Easy girl,’ I whisper gently, eyeing the dark mass of vegetation with no small amount of trepidation myself. The key dangling from her collar sparkles in the light as she tilts her head towards my voice.
‘Shall we?’ I ask grinning.

We begin to move into the smothering, green depths and my heart starts beating loud in my ears. It's here. Somehow I feel it - whatever it is this key opens, whatever lies at the heart of the ancient city is close enough to touch now. Our pace quickens, me slashing furiously at the entangling vines as Lana charges alongside.

Suddenly, the jungle gives way and we are there, standing on the stones of that derelict city. We begin to explore and it is not long before we realize all the winding streets lead to one place, one plaza in the very heart of the ruin. From each side a set of stairs leads up to a central dais. On it, a nondescript chest. I am so transfixed I move like I'm dreaming, barely registering the deep growl issuing from my loyal hound's throat.

I call her over and experience a flash of irritation as she lingers at the base of the stairs, growling madly now. It is as I move back down to her and place my hand on the key that the streets explode into life around us.
Ancient Naga indeed I think, stupefied as the half-serpent figures race from the undergrowth towards us. A sea of glittering daggers and spears bearing down upon us. I have only one chance. Snapping the key from the dog’s collar I race back up the steps, Lana hot on my heels.

The magic that it contains will transform you. The words ring through my head as I turn the key, shafts flying through the air around me. A hundred angry Naga closing in.

As I fling open the lid I see it from the corner of my eye. The spear hurtling straight at my head and then the racing black form that breaks its trajectory. The spear slams home, cracking ribs as I'm knocked back and my hound falls bleeding over the open box. Another life for this quest I think dumbly, suddenly realizing that whatever was in there wasn't worth this. But this is old Magick and it happily proves me wrong.

Around us, the horde of Naga are suddenly flattened by a wave of pure, golden light. Before my eyes, the prophecy meant for me unfolds in the flesh of my most loyal companion. Her broken form rising on the dais is suddenly whole again and glittering, infused with a strength I can now only dream of. But she's still my dog. As the Naga start to rise I look at them grinning:
‘Get ‘em girl.’

[Flavor text: They say a captain who loses an entire ship and crew is cursed. What the salt do they know?]

This is an entry to the contest here: https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@steemmonsters/steem-monsters-common-card-fantasy-story-contest-week-7

Funky dividers designed by @calumam