Chapter 36 #2
“Because they’re sharp and oiled with hemsbane and we are sirens.” I glanced up at Addison, who was sitting beside her workstation eating an apple. “Addy,” I called out. “Have you got any unfinished blades? Ones that haven’t been sharpened or oiled?”
“Course I have,” she said with a full mouth, reaching for a bundle of swords that didn’t even have handles yet.
Only the tang that was meant to fit inside one.
I took them from her and brought them to the middle of the deck where there was ample room to move.
I chose the smallest from the pile and handed it to Aeris.
“What weapons have you used before?” I asked.
“That’s why we’re here,” Meridan explained. “She told me she’s never used one.”
“I grew up a prisoner,” Aeris clarified. “I was never taught to fight. Nazario has taught me how to shoot a pistol, but nothing like this.”
I picked up an unfinished blade for myself and stepped further into the open.
“A blade is offensive,” I said. “Even when you’re using it to defend yourself, it is meant to cut. It should be aimed where it will do the most damage. Anything less will only cause problems.”
“I know where to do damage,” Aeris admitted, adding, “With my teeth.”
Meridan and I exchanged a smile. “We all do, but against Kroans, Kraal, and the sons, teeth won’t do.”
Around us, I noticed we were drawing attention. Some of the men had stopped what they were doing to watch whatever was about to unfold.
“In Dornwich, the Kraal used mostly hands and teeth. Kroans have blades on them,” I said a bit louder, realizing my lessons might benefit the whole crew in some way. “Xhoth fight with spears and teeth. Their skin is thick and their bones are thicker.”
“Will blades harm them?” Aeris asked.
I nodded. “Vidar slaughtered half a dozen of them himself some time ago. They’re soft in their gills and in their eyes.”
“And the Kraal?”
“They are the same. Their gills are located beneath their ribs, like a Kroan. Meridan?” She perked up. “Choose a blade.”
The corner of her mouth quirked as she picked up one of the bronze swords. She cringed a little at the weight and length of it. It was a far cry from the bone knives we were used to. The two of us faced each other, a familiar excitement kicking at my pulse.
“Am I to try and best you, or is there a lesson here?” Meridan teased.
“There will be a lesson,” I said. “After I beat you.”
She narrowed her eyes and lunged, feigning a high sweep before dropping to swipe at my legs.
I picked up my foot, stomping on her blade and pinning it to the floor before reaching for her hair.
I seized a clump in my hand and yanked her head back, exposing her throat.
She spun on her toes, rising so my arm was at a dangerous angle.
One where she could snap my elbow if she wanted to.
I released her, kicking the small of her back to put distance between us.
She rolled into a crouch, grabbing another knife from the pile of unfinished blades.
Meridan knew the patterns of my training almost as well as I knew hers.
She was smaller than I was, which made her faster.
She could attack so quickly, it could throw off any enemy.
There was no time between one attack and another and it was exhausting.
She managed to hit me not once, but twice.
Once on my shoulder and once on my thigh.
Both would have been severe blows if the blades had been sharp, but it did not compare to the massive welt of swelling flesh across her belly and the one on her knee.
We had held back, but we would still bruise.
When Meridan went for her final attack, I caught her against my body. She attempted to coil her legs around me and pin my arms, but where she was faster, I was stronger. I slammed her onto the deck, jamming my dull blade under her chin while I pinned her wrist at her side with my bare foot.
She wasted no time. Her free hand pounded against the floor.
“I could have had you!” she complained.
“There was hope,” I teased.
I let her up and stood to a round of applause from the men watching. Meridan curtsied sloppily at the onlookers and then turned to Aeris, who was staring wide eyed at the discolored bruises forming on Meridan’s pale skin.
“Don’t fret,” I said. “Meridan enjoys the challenge.”
“What was I to learn from that?”
“You are meant to learn that, though Meri was bested, she did go for my ribs many times, as she should have. You are also meant to learn that her biggest advantage was her size. I’m slower than she is and the xhoth are slower and bigger still.
“And what about you?” someone spoke up.
I tossed a glance at Cathal standing against the mast, his arms folded over his chest. “How are ye to practice if ye’re the biggest opponent?”
“Are you volunteering yourself?” I asked.
Cathal’s eyes lifted toward the helm where Vidar was watching the spectacle from the wheel. It was like he was asking permission, but the smirk on Vidar’s face said everything.
“Right, then,” Cathal said just as Nazario and Mullins appeared from below deck, both glistening with sweat like they’d been hard at work.
Cathal picked up the same sword Meridan had used and began to circle me as he rolled up the sleeves of his cotton blouse.
“Ye say the ribs are where it counts,” he said with a grin. “Be gentle with me.”
I relaxed into my stance as Cathal rolled his big shoulders back.
The man was rather solid. He’d be slow in a fight, I knew that much.
But he looked like the kind of man that could lift my full weight with one hand.
Fighting Vidar was one thing. We were fairly evenly matched in speed, which was a result of his rigorous training more than anything.
Now, I was the faster one in a fight, and I liked the change in dynamic.
He would expect me to go low.
So, I went high, brushing my blade toward his head. He dodged backwards with a start. My next blow rang across the deck when he blocked and the clashing metal sliced the air.
I was almost enjoying myself. No, I was enjoying myself. At some point, my speed had driven Cathal into the railing, causing the men standing there to part and evade us. I swung down on him, hitting the railing while he jogged out into the open again to get his bearings.
“Christ, woman,” he said. “I pray whatever beasties we’re going to face are less than half as vicious as ye, or we’re all doomed.”
I glared, an amused smile spreading across my face as I lunged again.
He blocked my swing, but in doing so, he left himself open.
I clutched his wrist, pulling his arm down and driving my elbow into his gut.
He fell to one knee, disoriented. I twisted his weapon from his hand and tossed it across the deck before slamming my knee up into his chin and knocking him on his back.
Blood gushed from his nose as he lay there, but even as he groaned in pain, a crescent smile of bloodied teeth dominated his features.
The men hooted and clapped their approval, giving me only moments to breathe before someone else stepped up to be my next opponent.
Behind me, Meridan was taking challengers as well and Nazario was showing Aeris a few simple moves, keeping a bit of distance from the chaos.
Before long, the deck was a training ground.
I kept explaining the anatomy of a xhoth and how it would benefit the men to change their tactics a little, but eventually, that information was lost in the game of betting on opponents.
The whole ship needed a bit of distraction and I was happy to provide it.
Eventually, my presence was no longer needed.
Everyone started to entertain themselves, sharing their techniques with each other and arguing over who had killed more men or seen more battles.
I stood off to the side, leaning back on the railing as I watched.
Eventually, my gaze wandered back toward Vidar.
He had been watching for a while, but now he was staring out into the horizon again, his thoughts clearly miles away from the spectacle.
He was always paying attention. Always sharp and alert. I turned and looked at the sea, reminded of the horrors we were sailing toward. A bit of training and fun wouldn’t change that.
Slowly, the noise waned, the now injured and bruised men went about their business, and night fell on the Storm Weaver like a cloak made of ink and diamonds.
I watched the water for hours, reminded of the countless dark moments that littered my nightmares.
Behind me, the hold taunted me, whispering at the back of my mind so I did not forget that Lyla was in a cell not twenty feet from me.
“That didn’t go as expected,” Meridan said, stepping up beside me. “I was hoping for a distraction for the three of us. But I suppose it is not a bad thing that the rest of the crew engaged.”
“No, I think they had fun,” I said.
“Odd that we all have that in common. We all get joy out of hurting each other. Isn’t that strange?”
I chuckled softly. “It is different when we all have an understanding.”
“A year ago, I never would have thought we’d be on a ship surrounded by men and laughing over an understanding.” Her smile flattened, her eyes wandering out to sea. “I wish Voel and Kea were here. If we do change the world, it would have been nice for them to see it the way we will get to.”
“I wish they were here, too. But I still have you and that is no small gift.”
“I know you saw many things when you were sleeping. I pray that they will not haunt you forever.”
“I pray for that as well. I don’t plan to let myself crumble under the weight of what Akareth did.”
“Well… if you decided you had to, I do think you’ve afforded yourself a vulnerable moment or two.”
Never had I heard Meridan say such a thing. We could not afford to be vulnerable or soft.
“Kroans have been executed for less,” I scoffed.
“Yes, but I think we both know that you’re not as Kroan as you once were.
Not allowing yourself a moment to truly fall apart might be one reason madness has plagued your people for so long.
” She reached out, putting her hand on mine.
“I’ve learned that humans fall apart quite often.
And then they wipe their tears and they learn to walk again. ”
“It sounds like you admire that about them.”
“I cannot weep, but… sometimes I wish I could, for our sisters. Even for ourselves, sometimes.”
She glimpsed the helm where Vidar was finally pulling himself away from the wheel and surrendering it to Nikolai for the night. I watched him walk down the steps and circle around to his cabin, disappearing behind the door.
“With someone like him, I imagine you can be at your weakest and still not fret over anything. He’ll protect you.
” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I will keep watch over the water tonight. I can see even better than you can in the dark and you know it. Perhaps you should give yourself a night to be weak. You will not get any other in the days to come.”
I turned to Meridan and smiled faintly. “You’ve gotten quite good at advice lately.”
“Was that good advice?”
I frowned. “It sounded rather certain.” I pushed off the railing and straightened my hair, composing myself. “If nothing else, I owe Vidar an explanation.”
“For what?”
“I cowered from his touch when we left the island. In a way that would cause anyone alarm. Since then, we’ve barely touched each other. We’ve barely spoken.”
“Because of your dreams? Have they truly affected you so much?”
“They’ve certainly stayed with me. I am thankful I was liberated when I was lest there be nothing left of me. I can already feel there are pieces missing. Pieces Akareth took. Left too long in that state, I fear I would have become…” I cut myself off.
“Lyla?” Meridan said.
“Yes.”
“Do you think there is anything left of her to salvage?”
“I believe she never had a chance to be anything more than what he made her. I selfishly don’t want to think hope is lost for her.”
“That is what makes the two of you so different. Somehow, you see things others don’t. I see a monster in that woman. You see a spark of light buried under tar and mud.”
“I see me,” I confessed. “Killing her would be giving up on what I might become. If there is no hope for her, there is no hope for me.”
“You won’t become that. You have far too many people willing to fight to prevent it.”
“Lyla had no one,” I sighed. I pinched the bridge of my nose, shaking my head. “I don’t have the energy to talk about her tonight.”
“Then sleep. Or don’t,” she said slyly. “Either way, go get some rest with Vidar. He’s had a long day as well.”
I leaned over, kissing Meridan on the side of her head before I headed across the deck to the captain’s quarters.