Right out of nowhere, a yellow dragon swoops in and spirits the entire party away – including Puff – to a ship led by a blond pirate who calls himself Thinbeard. He immediately puts the men to work in the galley, locks up Atolla and Puff in one of the cells, and takes Carol into his quarters for his own personal amusement.
Jay, Max and Frost are forced to help row the ship. Max, being the most easily amused party member, doesn’t seem to mind. Frost, on the other hand, is worried for Carol’s safety.
The ship suddenly comes under attack from Cindel and a small army of wizards, whom she orders to capture Thinbeard dead or alive for various crimes against the Pecot crown. As she prepares to board Thinbeard’s ship, Ames arrives and brings with him a brother and sister team of knights named Nosage and Needog. Together, Cindel and the two knights fight off about a half-dozen of Thinbeard’s henchmen, and sends the other two running for their lives.
They rush below the deck to find that Thinbeard has been set ablaze. Even after he manages to douse himself with water, Carol pops out of his room and flings another Fire spell at him. Cindel leaves Nosage and Needog behind to watch over Thinbeard while she and Carol rescue the others.
After breaking Atolla and Puff out of their cell, they pilfer a magic ether and a phoenix down from Thinbeard’s treasure stash, and then head down to the galley to free the boys (and Max). But just when she thinks she’s home free, Thinbeard surprises them and orders his dragon Azareth to attack. Jay is forced to sit back and watch as Cindel, Carol, Atolla and Puff fight the scaly yellow brute. Puff’s wind attacks have little effect on the beast, but Cindel’s Light magic works well against it. Azareth tries using its own wind magic to subdue Cindel’s party, along with a weird dance to confound the spellcasters and sap their magic power, but the heroes come out victorious as usual. Thinbeard realizes he’s defeated and takes off on the back of Azareth, making sure to leave behind a special present for our heroes…
