Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LYVIA
Shipment incoming. I decide if and when the deal is off. Your target sails to the Arx.
– Undisclosed correspondence from Lotrennia to Lord Haro of Marisarma, Captain of the Siren.
Lyvia – The Hydra, Atrulean Sea
Woody enderleaf smoke coiled and danced as it traced its way through the golden light of the lonely lantern. The rattle of the six-sided dice clanked against the wooden deck before an eruption of cheers and hollers cracked through the night.
Vulcan’s teeth flashed in a rare grin across the deck as Raek’s hand clapped onto his shoulder. The rolled blunt between the first mate’s teeth bobbed as he spoke to the elf.
Aeriden’s hands flew into the air before they slid down his face. His ebony hair bounced as he shook his head and turned a forlorn face to Isla. My lips tugged upward, and I suppressed the urge to laugh.
Isla smirked and scooped up the dice before catching a raised brow from Vulcan.
“Don’t you dare accuse me of cheating, Vulcan Vetiver,” she quipped, shoving a pointed finger in the elf’s direction. “Luck is always on my side.”
“Don’t worry, Cantor,” Vulcan replied, giving my brother a nod. “I’m tired of sparring anyways.”
Aeriden’s shoulders sagged, and he shot me a relieved look. He stood and cracked his knuckles, turning toward one of Kellan’s crewmembers.
The two moved to the center of the deck.
Aeriden hopped on the balls of his feet before getting into position.
A strange collision of warmth and regret mingled in my chest as the game of goddess gift continued.
My heart squeezed at the sight of my brother melding perfectly with the rogue band of pirates and my elven friends.
But my thoughts sliced to the last game I’d watched onboard the Hydra…
To Vienah and her betrayal, her sentence.
Guilt twisted in my stomach. She’d been a friend. And she’d traded our secrets to King Saros, resulting in the deaths of thousands in Odessa. Nearly a hundred at Demon’s Door. And the hasty advance on Aedrialis.
But Saros had her family. Would I have done anything different?
I watched my brother fly across the deck, slapping away a jab before slamming his fist under the chin of the hairy pirate, sending him tripping to the ground. A chorus of cheers erupted as the pirate tapped the deck twice.
I would do anything for my family, but I’d like to think I would have found another way.
I sidled up next to Isla, who sat with her legs crossed and held the dice out in front of me.
“For luck.” She raised her dark eyebrows and winked as she jiggled the dice.
I huffed a laugh and blew on them before she flicked her wrist, and they bounced across the deck. Two eyes peered out from the triangular faces as if gazing upon the clear, starry sky above.
Low laughs rumbled throughout the crowd as Isla snatched up the dice once more. Raek moved toward us. His knees hit the deck as he leaned in and stretched out his hand.
“Bones,” the first mate commanded, with a smile dancing on his lips. The word was soft in his Votruvian accent.
I frowned, and he tilted his head, noting the expression.
“These aren’t made of bone,” I corrected him, picking up the dice and examining them before Isla could hand them over. “These are definitely stone.”
Raek chuckled. His shaggy ginger hair bounced, and his sea green eyes warmed in the soft glow of the lantern.
“Not bones,” he said before taking a long drag of his enderleaf blunt. “Bons in Old Votruvian. Mine.”
I blinked, my lips parting as something tapped at the back of my mind. Raek snatched the dice out of my hands before rolling them between his and shooting them across the deck.
“Cantor.”
My face snapped to the quarterdeck at the name, where Kellan gestured to my brother, now pulling the tunic over his head to wipe the sweat from his face. Aeriden Cantor.
I tilted my head as I watched my brother jog to where the pirate lord stood waiting, a blade held out in front of him.
Kellan’s eyes caught on mine from across the deck as he waited.
I’d been hesitant about my brother joining the crew of the Hydra.
He’d eventually planned on returning to Aedrialis and taking his role as the kingdom’s horse lord, but there was something pleasing about him settling in so quickly with the crew.
Kellan’s gaze lingered on mine, reluctantly pulling it away as Aeriden rounded the corner. I caught a wide grin on my brother’s face as he took the blade from the pirate lord. I craned my neck to make out the blade and gasped when I spied the elaborate horse head hilt.
My father’s blade.
Had they found it in Nivis?
My stomach twisted as a rush of bloody images flooded my mind.
Memories I kept locked down seized the moment of weakness.
Numbness crept up my throat and into my lips as another recent memory pounced.
My hell. I watched myself carry the fortissa chain to where my father lay, broken and bleeding, near-death in the queen’s old chambers of the Crystal Castle…
“Are you all right?”
Isla’s voice cut through the fear and anguish, and I was pulled from my hell and thrown back on board the Hydra. Her hand had clasped around mine. Her dark brows pinched as she leaned into me.
I swallowed and blew out a breath.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I murmured, and I glanced up to find Kellan’s concerned eyes on mine from on top of the quarterdeck. “I’m fine,” I repeated, more to myself.
Isla opened her mouth to reply when an earsplitting shriek rippled up from the side of the ship. Silence stretched across the deck as the crew stilled, each man and woman with hands on their weapons, eyes on their captain’s invisible shield.
My ears picked up the soft splash from the port side, and I whipped my head around. Vulcan hurried past me, an arrow already nocked in his bow. The tip inched to the left as he called to the captain, “There’s something in the water. Two hundred yards out.”
Kellan’s crew moved silently into defensive positions at the slight nod of his head. Aeriden sheathed our father’s blade and hopped over the quarter deck before retrieving his own bow and climbing the shrouds to the rear crow’s nest.
Kellan moved to the center of the deck, where Isla stood as she rolled the sleeves of her shirt up before her fingers traced the line of shell rings on her ears.
“Where do you want us, Captain?” She turned to Kellan after checking her small amplifiers.
“You’re here,” Kellan replied without an ounce of question as he reached us. “Reinforce the shield and be ready for a quick departure if needed. Call me if you run out.” His eyes traced the delicate rings along her pointed ears.
“Why don’t you give me a little charge up before we get started?” Isla arched a brow and held out her hand.
Kellan didn’t hesitate. His hand clamped around hers, and Isla jumped as he sent a small blast of power into the tiny elf.
Isla’s amber eyes went wide before they darted to mine, and she shook out her hand.
“Spicy,” she murmured, squeezing and flexing her hand. “But nice. Thank you. Wow, I feel like I just had nine cups of Marian’s rising tea.”
Kellan’s lip twitched before he turned to me. “I need your new elf eyes up high.” His chin jerked to Tiberius, who clomped across the deck, and Kellan paused before turning back to me. “Please.”
I blinked and nodded. Isla turned to me with a rogue grin and raised a brow. She mouthed the word please and gave me a knowing look. I scowled before gripping Ti’s mane and hopping onto his back.
Have you seen anything?
No, Ti murmured. The splash came from the east.
Tiberius flew out of Astraeus’s warm shield and into the brisk spring night.
I strained my eyes against the darkness as a strange lullaby floated over the waves.
My powers raced into my palms, but the threat edged against ease.
What was this? The Transcindiel’s normal, pleasant reaction to the sound of music was absent.
Its feel beneath my skin was more cautious than curious.
Waves crashed in foamy blue lines as the light of our moons shone against the Atrulean Sea. The tune picked up the further we flew from Kellan’s shield. It was louder, as if coming from all directions.
We need to get back to the ship.
Ti’s thoughts echoed my own, and he banked against an updraft, turning back toward the Hydra.
Wait! I urged, my eyes catching something dark against the horizon to the north. Is that a ship?
The melody grew in intensity, and I pinched my eyes shut, my mind wandering. Why were we flying away from this song? It was lovely. It was home. The melody grew, building and rising into a crescendo that made my heart still before the song stopped, and a voice took over.
You are mine, he said.
My soul sang in response.
You have always been mine. I’m here. Come to me.
My eyes closed, and a broad, brilliant smile stretched across my lips as I threw my head back and allowed myself to bask in the glory of those words coming from his lips.
My heart squeezed before releasing, as if letting out a breath, and I looked down at the rippling waves of the sea.
Down. He was down there. The rolling waves climbed as we neared, their peaks arching in tempting ripples.
Come to me, Beloved.
Beloved…
That was the wrong name.
My powers bucked at the thought, and the silvery line of power connecting me to the Hydra sparked to life. The pull was stronger than the song, stronger than the voice, and I cast the feeling to Tiberius, who’d lost significant height in the last few moments.
Frothy waves licked at his hooves, and a dark shadow rose up from below.
“FLY!” I screamed as the wind whipped the word away.
Tiberius let out a wild snort, pumping his wings just as the thin, scaled arm of a creature reached for us.
A long claw curled from its bony hand, the sharp tip barely missing my caeluma’s fetlock as Tiberius soared toward the Hydra.
My stomach dipped as I caught sight of the creature’s horrid face.
Thin, curved fangs flashed as its jaws stretched wide against the flat pane of its frill-like skull.
Molten, black eyes widened as they locked onto me, and the creature let out a gut-churning shriek as it undulated and then surged out of the wake.
A long, scaled body stretched from the waves as its two human-like arms reached for Tiberius’s hind legs. A thick tail trailed ribbons of fins in its wake. Its two, thin claws angled in toward Ti’s hooves, but the Obscura was faster.
Death surged from my palm, ribbons of shadow wrapping around the creature as it hissed and shrieked at me before its cries were lost in the ashes carried away by the waves. Tiberius’s body was hot against mine despite the frigid sea we flew over.
The song picked up once more… The Nyxteria lullaby.
Shield! Ti’s voice was a demand in my mind, one I was quick to follow.
I dove into the chasm housing my powers, linking their hands with the love that allowed them to work together. I soared to the surface, pulling them with me, and envisioned a black sail, its protection stretching all around us.
The song battered against the dark shield, and we surged faster toward the Hydra. The massive ship rocked strangely against the waves, its masts teetering back and forth with illogical force.
I risked a glance behind us and noted the ship in the distance growing closer. My heart plummeted as I turned back to the Hydra, spying hundreds of dark creatures just outside what had to be Kellan’s shield.
Rocking the ship.
Arrows pelted the creatures from above, thinning a growing herd. Ti surged forward as he registered the sight, and I readied a blast of pure death when the mast tipped toward us once more, and I spotted a figure hanging from the rear crow’s nest, white-knuckling the roped edge.
I screamed as Aeriden lost his grip and plummeted into the writhing sea of creatures.