Chapter 14
ARIEL
“ N OOOO!” I screamed as I tried to rip myself free of Eldrien’s hold. But his grip was a vise, holding me back from the chaos below. Fire tore through my throat as my fear turned to anger in an instant. “Release me. Now !”
“You do not know what hunts us,” he said, his fingers still wrapped tightly around my wrist.
“It hunts my friends ,” I said as smoke curled from the corners of my mouth. “That is all I need to know.” Before he could protest, I slammed my forearm down upon his, forcing him to let me go. The second I was free, I dove toward the melee.
Wind whipped around the vessel, creating a wall of spray and foam that obscured my view entirely. Eldrien was right—I had no idea what I was headed toward—but it was of little consequence. Whatever had attacked our ship was going to pay for it.
HEMMING
I watched as a thing of nightmares crashed down upon the deck like a blade through flesh. Eldrien had pulled Ariel away just before the massive arm of the creature cut through the wooden planks, sending shards and debris flying. Though I’d managed to slice the thick band of tentacled flesh, it seemed to have had no effect. As quickly as it had come, it disappeared over the rail into the depths below.
In the moment of reprieve, I turned to see if Shayfer had survived. Though his ability should have saved him, that presupposed he’d seen the attack coming. If he hadn’t…
I shuddered at the thought as I headed for the wreckage near the helm. “Shayfer!” I roared over the assailing winds and rain—the storm the creature had caused.
“I’m here!” he shouted from behind the debris before he stood to face me. When he found me alone, his concern was instant. “Where is Ariel?”
“Eldrien flew off with her.”
“That might be for the best, given that this thing seems to want to dismantle the ship from the top down.”
No sooner had those words left his mouth than a wriggling, tentacled appendage wound its way over the rail, headed for where I stood atop the half-broken ladder. I braced against it and gripped my sword with both hands, ready to hack the attacking limb to pieces. The tip of the arm elongated to a sharpened point like a lance and hovered as it prepared to plummet toward me.
I squinted through the wind and rain, focused on the weaponized tentacle as the beast inside me dug in, ready to do whatever was necessary. The slick black arm shot at me like an arrow, and I arced my sword through the air high overhead. The blade bit deep into its flesh until it lodged into something hard. The tentacle recoiled from the blow, wrenching me high above the deck as I tried to dislodge my weapon.
It whipped me through the air violently, trying to shake me off. My grip began to falter, and the beast inside me roared, trying to strengthen my resolve. Suddenly, the arm stilled, dangling me above the raging waters. The white-capped waves broke open wide as something dark and massive emerged from the sea's gaping maw. It rose and grew until it blotted out everything before me.
Two eerie green eyes peered at me from a bulbous head as a beak-like mouth opened wide. Its wounded arm hefted me above its head to better show me the rows of teeth inside, sharp as pikes, shining as pale as death in the moonlight. But that pale glow warmed just before familiar flames engulfed me as I clung to the pommel of my sword. Fire scorched the deadly appendage, sizzling and burning through the leathery hide.
The creature screeched in protest, retreating back into the water as Ariel’s fire engulfed us both. As it dragged me down toward the surface, I felt hot arms wrap around my waist. Ariel’s hold on me was like iron as she hauled me away from the beast, my sword pulling free with the force of her flight.
“Nice of you to lend a hand!” I shouted over the roaring waves the creature’s descent had caused.
“You looked like you could use the help.”
My temporary amusement disappeared as she flew us back to the wrecked ship. It was still afloat, but taking on water at an alarming rate. It would not be long before it went under, where the tentacled monster lay in wait. “We need to get out of here.”
“I hadn’t planned on staying,” she replied as she dipped toward the deck where Shayfer stood, with Eldrien circling overhead. Once I was close enough to drop down, she released me before landing a few feet beyond. Eldrien joined us on the rocking vessel as the wind threatened to keel it over.
“We must go back!” Shayfer shouted as a wall of waves crashed down upon us, knocking him into Eldrien.
“We’ve come too far,” Ariel argued. “I have to find the Oracle?—”
“You don’t know that you ever will,” he countered, “but you certainly won’t if you die here!”
Lightning flickered in the distance, highlighting another mass of sorts—one that looked unmistakably like land. Ariel saw it too, and she quickly turned hopeful eyes to Shayfer.
“Did you see that?” she asked, and he nodded. “Can you make it—with all of us?”
He looked into the distance with narrowed eyes while Eldrien stared at him, confusion pinching his brows. “I think so,” was the fae spy’s only response.
Even over the howling winds and thunderclaps, the garbled screech of the creature could be heard from below as it circled the sinking ship, waiting. “I think we don’t have time to deliberate,” I warned, tracking the sea beast's movements.
As if in response, the sea monster’s tentacles slowly oozed over the rail, leaving a trail of iridescent slime in their wake. Like sentient snakes, they wended their way toward our legs.
I drew my sword and tightened my grip on the pommel as I slid in front of Ariel to face the beast. “I will draw its attention!” I yelled over my shoulder.
“That’s not a plan,” Ariel countered as she shoved me aside and let her fire rain down upon the creature. The sea beast rose above the water just enough for us to see its eyes narrow in anger as it howled in pain. Its remaining tentacles froze for a moment as it contemplated its next move. Ariel prepared to assault it yet again, but there was a sudden shift in the boat from beneath, and we all staggered forward to right ourselves. The turbulence continued, worsening with every passing second.
Then our vessel shot straight up into the sky, and the four of us scattered in the chaos.
ARIEL
A flash of lightning highlighted Shayfer’s vibrant coat as he arced through the air toward an open maw. I screamed his name as I used my wings to stop my tumbling through the stormy winds. The beast opened its beak wider still, about to claim its prey; then Shayfer disappeared from the sky. I looked back at the boat to find him clinging to what remained of the mast while Hemming fought the beast from the deck, sword cutting through the air as the beast assaulted him with its tentacles.
And all the while, they sank lower and lower into the abyss below and the certain death that awaited them there.
I dove for the ship, my singular focus on saving my friends. A streak of blue shot toward the mast as Eldrien rescued Shayfer from the wreckage and continued on toward the shore. Hemming’s attention snapped to me as I swooped down to grab him, while the creature let loose a war cry that nearly ruptured my ears. It crashed backward into the sea, stumps of a few remaining tentacles flailing through the air. I snatched Hemming off the ship being dragged down by the wounded sea monster and beat my wings furiously as I tried to escape the drag from the swirling whirlpool below.
But Hemming’s weight made that impossible.
I grimaced and snarled as I fought the inevitable, but with every snap of my wings, we lost ground. Hemming looked up at me with calm resignation in his stare, and my heart nearly stopped when I realized what he planned to do.
I gripped him tighter and screamed.
“Ariel,” he shouted in return, “you have to let me go!”
“NO!” My resolve strengthened as determination coursed through me, but it wasn't enough. With every passing second, we drew closer to the water and the death that awaited us within it.
“Ariel—”
“No, Hemming! I’ll never let you go!”
“You won’t have to!” Shayfer yelled as he appeared through the storm with Eldrien carrying him. His hand clapped down on Hemming’s shoulder, and I breathed a sigh of relief. We were going to make it. I reached my hand out to grab hold of Shayfer’s arm, but just as my fingertips grazed his shirt, something shot out from the water below. An undamaged tentacle crashed into us with unthinkable speed. One second, I was holding onto Hemming; the next, I was careening through the air, wings working hard to try to right me.
Piercing pain lanced through my back as my right wing struggled against the gale-force winds and the blow I’d just received. Even over the din, I could hear Hemming shouting my name.
Then he went silent.
I fought through the raging storm and the growing waterspout where the creature had made its final stand to find them, but a rogue wave crashed into me. It dragged me down with its powerful undertow, and I tumbled beneath the surface, unable to break free. My lungs burned with the need for air, but I could not free myself from the sea’s hold.
When it finally relented, I let my body go limp long enough to try to sense which way was up. A break in the clouds allowed the moon to shine through, guiding me to safety, and I used every ounce of breath I had left to kick and thrash my way to the surface until I broke through, gasping for air like a fish on land.
But my reprieve was short-lived.
The storm, too, was a violent thing, and its desire for carnage had not yet been sated. For longer than I could comprehend, it pummeled me with wave after wave in an attempt to drown me. Had it continued for much longer, I feared it would have succeeded. But just before it could claim my life, a final wave spat me out onto something firm; something sandy and rocky and not actively trying to kill me.
I clung to the shore, dragging myself across a bizarre mix of warm, welcoming sand and jagged, punishing stone. I collapsed as far away from the waterline as I could manage, coughing and hacking up what felt like half the sea until I could finally breathe unhindered. I glanced up at the sky as angry clouds swallowed the moon’s light and let loose a ground-shaking clap of thunder. Rain poured down, pelting me with drops that felt like tiny daggers. With some effort, I called my scales forth for protection and forced myself to my feet. I needed shelter. I needed to recover.
Then I needed to find the others.
I reached into my pocket for the blessing stone, expecting to feel its cool, smooth surface brush against my fingertips. Instead, all I felt was wet leather and an empty space where it should have been.
Cold dread raked down my spine. My only way to locate them had been lost in the storm.
“It’s all right,” I told myself as a lightning strike not far off the coast illuminated a tree line about a hundred yards from where I stood. “They’ll be all right…” I headed toward the woods as another bolt of lightning split the sky, and there in front of me, highlighted by the violent storm, was a tiny hut of sorts. I reached over my shoulder, relieved to find my staff still tethered to my body, and pulled it free. Alone in a strange land was not the time to move about unarmed. The Black Forest had taught me that much.
Staff clutched tightly in my hand, I hobbled along the uneven surface of the shore in near darkness, headed toward the thatch-roofed shack ahead. My right wing shot out for balance as I slipped on the slick rocks, and I winced at the sharp pain that stabbed me where it attached. It might not have been broken, but whatever had been strained would certainly pose a problem. There would be no flying with that wing anytime soon, which would render my plan to find the others once the storm broke far more daunting.
As I stopped to gently retract the injured wing, I closed my eyes and replayed those final moments in my mind. It had all happened so fast, it was hard to remember the details, but I tried all the same. Thunder roiled around me as I forced my mind to relive the blow that had ripped me away from the others—to remember anything about what might have happened to them.
An image of the upside-down trio as I hurtled backward from the blow flashed in my head. One second they were there, shouting for me; the next, they were gone. My chest tightened at the memory, and I forced deep, even breaths to stem my rising panic. Disappearing was a good thing, I told myself. It meant that Shayfer had whisked them away from danger, not succumbed to it. And if they’d survived, they’d be searching for me too. All I had to do was wait out the storm and collect something to burn once it passed. Assuming Eldrien hadn’t been too injured in the attack, he could easily fly up and see the smoke from wherever they’d landed on the island.
We’d be reunited again.
I exhaled slowly at the thought, then pressed on toward the shack, using my staff to help steady me as I maneuvered closer to the forest beyond. A tingling sensation spread across my neck as I approached the weathered building. Whether it was the shack itself or the surrounding woods that had triggered it, I couldn’t be sure, but I’d had my fill of forests for a long while, and given how small the dwelling was, I knew there couldn’t be an army awaiting me inside. I’d take my chances against a single assailant rather than a forest full of things desirous of my death.
The storm offered the perfect cover for my approach, easily masking my footfalls and ragged breaths. Anticipation of a fight overrode my exhaustion, and my muscles tightened as I reached for the door. There was no candlelight inside—no sign of life—but I could not afford to be complacent.
Crouching down against the scalloped wood panels, I reached for the handle on the door and waited for another thunderclap. The sky obliged me with an ear-splitting boom that rattled me to my core. With the sound still reverberating through the air, I threw the door open and waited for someone to move inside. Seconds, then minutes, passed without any signs of movement within. Assured that the risk was minimal, I poked my head around the doorframe as lighting lit the sky again to confirm my suspicions.
Empty .
With no immediate danger in sight, I rushed inside and closed the door, barring it with a long piece of wood hooked into metal brackets. A quick glance at the dust-covered single-room abode told me it hadn’t been occupied for a very long time. There was no bed. No table. No blankets or food. All it boasted was a single chair with three legs, leaning against the far wall.
“Cozy,” I muttered to myself as I made my way over to the broken seat. I pulled it away from the wall to stand it up, and it toppled over in a sad display. “I completely empathize.”
There was a single window facing the sea that was so covered in dirt that it was nearly opaque. I ran my wet hand across it to try to improve the visibility, to little effect. With nothing else to do but wait out the storm and pray, I huddled carefully in the corner and rested my head against the walls.
“Please let them be all right,” I whispered to the empty building as I unfastened the cord securing my braided hair. “And let them know I am as well.”
Exhaustion weighed down upon me, and my eyelids grew heavy. I let them drift closed as I drew my fingers through my sopping hair in an attempt to untangle it. But all the motion seemed to do was lull me deeper into a state of tiredness that I could not escape. Slumber nipped at my heels as my arms fell limp at my sides, and my breathing grew slow and deep.
My mind slipped into the dream world without hesitation, imagining Hemming lying beside me, his strong arms wrapped around my body, holding me close. I nestled in against him, relishing the sensation of his soft breath against my ear as he brushed his lips along the sensitive lobe. I turned to face him, clasping the back of his head to pull his mouth to mine. But something felt wrong as they touched.
Thunder shook the building at my back, and I startled awake to find impossibly blue eyes staring back at me in the light of the storm. A smile stretched across an unfamiliar face, and I realized that my hand was entangled in his white-blond hair. With a start, I released my hold and shot to my feet.
The beautiful male before me slowly unfurled to his full height. “What a curious surprise the storm has brought me this time.” He canted his head as he stared down at me and smiled wider still. “I think I might just keep it.”