Chapter 48
I walked north, Marshen in tow.
“What?”
“I know this might make me sound a little crazy, but Alma told me that there are natural pools close to the waterfall.”
“Delia, you always sound a little crazy.”
I gave him a partial eye roll. “Will you come with me? I want to learn how to swim. Give water that isn’t trying to drown me a second try.” As the words left my mouth, my belly swelled with a mixture of fear and excitement.
“I see. Sure, why not?”
We came across a few people along the way—a young couple, and farther up, a family of five. I introduced myself and asked the usual questions. Still, no luck.
At least Marshen didn’t say or ask anything annoying. With his Fae hearing, I was sure he heard my questions and must have realised that what I was looking for were answers about my family.
The view before us was something a painter would want to paint, then keep it all to himself.
A majestic waterfall cascaded to our left, its curtain trailing into a bed of calm turquoise sea.
Dark grey slate rocks and colossal boulders protected the natural pools from the sea of wrath.
The smell of salt water filled me with inconsistent emotions—a blend of heartache and longing. Safety and fear.
Marshen stripped down to his undershorts and dove in headfirst.
“The water’s perfect,” he bellowed, before launching into a series of dives.
My eyes rolled. “Show-off.”
The way these Fae males often acted like children was beyond my comprehension…and they were practically elderly. I wondered how old Marshen was.
“Come on, I won’t let you drown. I promise.”
I approached the rocky edge in my undergarment and camisole. I sat down, my feet dangling into the cool water.
“Just take my hand the moment I get in, all right?”
“All right, come on in already.”
I took a deep breath, then pushed myself off the rock and into the water. I felt as if I would remain there, below the surface, but kicking and thrashing my legs got my head out of the water. “Omph.”
Remaining upright required a tiring amount of flailing, and I struggled to keep the water below my chin. Marshen grabbed me from my arms and pulled me back.
“What are you doing?” I blurted.
“Just trust me, all right. Relax. Allow your legs to lift, and your back to rest against the water. That’s it.
Open your arms…now your legs. Become the Element.
” Marshen held his palm at my back. I imagined myself to be a piece of ice, slowly melting into the sea.
I floated, looking at the fluffy white clouds that drifted like tufts of cotton in the clear blue sky.
This isn’t a misty wasteland. This is…dreamland.
“Relax,” Marshen repeated. “If you stay calm, like this, you’ll float…I’m letting you go now.”
“Mmhmm,” I said, my tone pitched. I was afraid that I’d be sucked in the second Marshen let go of me, but when he released his arm, I remained afloat. A laugh escaped my mouth. “I’m doing it.”
“See, you’re a natural.”
“I’m doing it,” I repeated. And I truly was. I floated, swam, and even dared to dive a few times. But only while Marshen was in his animal form. It was exhilarating—the freedom and the weightlessness of it all. And below, the world hushed, the sounds muffled, so far away.
The colourful little fish were visible through the crystal clear water, but that didn’t keep me from opening my eyes into the salty tang. It was truly otherworldly.
I braided my damp hair on our way back. “So…what’s the plan?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re a soldier on your mission and I want to help.”
“We’ll help. But have patience, I’m still figuring it out.”
“Figuring it out? I think what needs to be done is pretty obvious, shark-boy.”
“It’s not as obvious as you might expect. Don’t ask why, but I need you to think of me as if I were a mere human. No offence.”
“But you’re not now, are you?” I dismissed, rolling my eyes.
“And you’re acting weird. Acting as if you didn’t see it with your own eyes, how close the Phoenix came.
As if there’s no rush—no risks. As if you’re not their only solution.
” I thought about what Aegir had said, about Naar—the possibility of another attack.
“Oh, I am weighing said risks, Delia. The thing is, we don’t know if they’re willing to risk their lives again. We don’t even know if they want to be found,” Marshen said, his tone dubious.
“Alma made it sound like they wanted to.”
“Yes, but do they still? They’ve built homes here. I’d hate to force them, though I might.”
“It’s not safe here. What if the Phoenix decides to take a little perch on this island, hmm? I think they should be relocated to a safer place. I’m sure Silch would be better guarded.”
“Better guarded than a veiled land?”
“Yes. The Naaris wouldn’t stand a chance on the Land of Ice. So, imagine this: I’ll stay here, ask the craftsmen to build weapons—arrows, swords, axes, you know, just in case. In the meantime, you’ll swim—”
“Not swim…sail. Human, Delia. Think of me as human. I can’t go by myself,” he mumbled.
My head shook in confusion and I snapped, “Are you broken or something?”
Marshen’s nostrils twitched. “Blake’s coming. Don’t you dare say a word.”
“Hey! You went swimming without me,” Blake called out, breathless.
“Sorry, kid. For next time,” Marshen said, clapping Blake’s shoulder.
I paused by the crackling fire to warm my cupped hands before joining the others at the dinner table. The octopus stew smelled divine. It tasted as such, too. And I was getting accustomed to the ale’s bitterness. Its lingering metallic taste at the sides of my tongue started to grow on me.
“My gods, Alma, you have truly outdone yourself,” Marshen drawled. Blake rolled his eyes at Marshen’s borderline sensual tone.
“You’re welcome, darling.”
Marshen’s smirk deserved another eye roll. Blake again obliged.
“Alma?”
Her eyes lifted, meeting mine. “Yes, dear.”
“Marshen and I are trying to figure out a way out of here.” I neither wanted to alarm them with news about Naar possibly having their feathers ruffled nor fill them with Aegir’s empty promises.
They’d been through enough already, but my words still came with a warning, “We worry about your safety here, especially with the Phoenix coming so close. Once we do, we wish to tell King Ryvar about you. I hope it’s still something you want.
We understand you’ve built a new life here.
” I had to ask. Marshen’s earlier doubts lingered in the back of my mind.
“We did build a new life here, yes, but we’d very much like to return to the mainland,” Alma said.
But it wouldn’t be their Land they’d be returning to. It would be their freezing sister Land. I stared at Marshen for a while, his earlier words whispering in my mind. Sail.
I straightened my back and cleared my throat before asking, “Did anyone try to go through the Unnar Caves?”
Blake’s brows wrinkled. “Go through where?”
“The Unnar Caves,” I repeated.
“I haven’t heard of them. Where are they?” Blake asked.
“They’re hidden caves, somewhere along the coastline of Ramel. Legend says whoever goes through gets rewarded with a passage to Dunehaven.
“Except they’re not real,” Marshen said flatly.
My next words came out through clenched teeth. “Will you shut up with your scepticism?”
“You mean realism.”
I gave him a sharp look and huffed. “Then let me think of another solution…Oh! I know one—how about you go venture all the way north and get on with your mission?” The way I said venture included the concealed words shift and swim away.
“I can’t go on my own.” And so he’d said.
“Then sailing by boat to the Unnar Caves it is,” I declared, giving Marshen a hostile smile.
“They stopped willing to sail a long time ago,” Marshen mumbled.
“You’re right,” Blake added, “but not me. I’ll join—”
“No,” Alma snapped.
“None of you have to sail,” I assured Alma. “Marshen and I will go. You said some returned. That must mean you still have boats, right?”
“Yes, but they’re probably in a poor state.”
“Take us to them. Tomorrow morning. And bring both of your craftsmen.”
Marshen shook his head, his jaw tense.
“It’s a two-day ride on horseback. They’re in South Bay,” Alma said.
“Then tonight, we shall pack everything—food, clothes, water, weapons. There’s no time to waste. Wait…you have horses here?”
“We do.” My heart ached. I missed my sweet desert mare.
“Could you take me to the craftsmen now, please? I’d like to speak to them.”
“The food was delicious, Alma. If you’ll excuse me.” Marshen nodded his head once and left the table.
Stubborn asshole.
I returned to our room hours later.
Marshen was propped on his bed, honing the dagger Blake gave him earlier, using a piece of slate.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I hissed.
Marshen kept sweeping his dagger. “You’re putting yourself in danger.” He scoffed. “Sailing along the Brim to find something that’s likely not even there. You’re being irrational.”
“Oh, fuck you! These people have been isolated here for over ten years. They lost every shred of hope, and as soon as I bring them some, you dismiss it right in front of their faces!”
Marshen leapt off the bed and strode towards me. “Well it’s surely better than feeding them false hope. What if we don’t find the caves? There’s no way you’ll make it alive all the way to the Florentine Port. I’m only trying to keep you safe, you know.”
“No, that’s not what you’re doing,” I snapped, pointing a finger at him. “You’re hiding something. Because why would you accuse me of feeding them false hope when the first words you breathed to them were a promise that they were no longer forgotten?”
“You’re right. That was reckless of me. I shouldn’t have said those words.”
I scoffed, shaking my head. “And why the hell not? And why are you keeping your animal form a secret?”
Marshen pursed his lips at the question and forced a blink. “Because…because I don’t want to let them down, all right.”
“Let them down? You could just shift and swim all the way to the north! Isn’t that why you were sent here in the first place? Why don’t you, then, huh?” For once, he went silent. I snorted in disappointment. “Coward.”
“I am not a coward!”
I made a face that said, “Then what are you?”
“It’s just…I cannot enter the Land of Silch on my own, all right.”
My foot tapped. “Why do you keep saying that?”
“Because—because King Ryvar would…execute me. He’d probably shove me into one of his traps, then watch me plummet down the stony tunnel until my body shatters at the bottom of the icy floor. Poetic, don’t you think? Me, an Ice Fae, dying shattered against ice, my Elem—”
“Execute you? Why? And what happens if you enter the Land of Ice with someone?”
“Not just someone.”
“What do you mean? Why are you really here, Marshen?”
“Delia, I—I wasn’t sent here on some heroic mission.
Well, in truth, I was sent here to search for Ilman survivors, but it wasn’t like that.
Everyone laughed at me when the order was given.
They all knew very well that Silchan shifters had already searched every corner of Ilma, even this island.
Birds flew over it but saw nothing.” His words reminded me of Eldric.
I wondered if he, too, was one of them. Probably.
“The quest was Aegir’s idea. He convinced his brother to trade my execution order in exchange for a fool’s errand.
He managed to spare my life, or maybe just extend it.
But before I reluctantly left Nivaria, Aegir made sure to tell me that I owed him a favour. ”
Of course he did.
“King Ryvar’s words were something like this: Return to Silch with a Nymph or a Water Wielder and your execution order will be levied. I was sent as an outcast on a hopeless mission.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem that hopeless to me. You found what he asked you to, did you not?”
“Do you truly believe those caves exist?”
“I do. I read about them before, and you saw the map yourself. Marsh, I’m from Ramel, raised by Sand Priestesses who passionately taught us about the history and geography of our Land.
And those caves were more than once mentioned.
They have to be real. I have to believe they exist.” We looked at each other in silence, his face expressing consideration.
Then I said, “I’ve never seen the tunnel death traps you claim your Ice King has built, but I believe they are real, because I believe you.
My only fear is getting a surprise visit from the Phoenix.
But I’m hoping that he’s long gone by now. ”
“Do you think any of them will agree to sail with us? Blake wanted to come.”
“We’ll ask them, but Blake is out of the question. Alma doesn’t know if her husband still lives, and I can’t bear to let her carry that same fear for her son.”
“I—you’re right…I agree. Listen, Delia, I can always go look for the caves by myself, then return here to get you and some others. Or maybe I should just swim back to Ilma’s mainland and go to Ramel, to find Aegir. He is in Sharlam, right?”
“No, that would be too dangerous. The Naaris must be scouting for us. And besides, you don’t believe enough, you wouldn’t be able to find them. Just pack everything. I have a better idea.”