Chapter 3 The Gullet
Riley
A mix of hurt and confusion tightened itself into a ball inside Riley’s chest as she watched Calla walk away from her. It made it hard to breathe, so she clung to the one distraction she had. Her hands. They itched, and she massaged them absentmindedly.
It was those marks she’d woken up with after Sable had run away with the Heart of the Abyss, slithering up her hands and elbows like dark seaweed tendrils.
A fortnight had passed since then, and Riley still hadn’t figured out what they were.
Was she cursed? Was it a disease? Something else?
When she’d gone to Haddock, he’d flinched after touching her hands, so she hadn’t taken off her gloves since.
The old man had just shrugged it off, though, telling her to keep track of anything that seemed weird.
All this shit was weird. Eryx had been even less helpful.
The only one Riley hadn’t asked yet was Calla. A conversation with her was impossible when the captain refused to give her the time of day, her icy walls higher and thicker than ever. No matter how hard Riley tried, there were no cracks, no glimmers of any feelings at all.
And Riley got it–she really did. Instead of fixing things, she’d turned Calla into her own personal nightmare.
She’d fucked up. She hadn’t meant to, not the transformation part at least, but she’d fucked up, and more than once.
Calla was hurting because of her, no matter how hard she was pretending she wasn’t, and Sable–the hurt spiked in Riley’s chest, turning her stomach, and not even the itching could distract her from it.
Sable had saved her life, and now she was gone.
Riley owed the first mate her life, but more than that she…
missed her. She couldn’t stop thinking about it, a dull ache accompanying her through the days and nights no matter what she was doing or who she was talking to.
And the constant wondering. About how things could be now if she’d just stayed in Sable’s bed that night, instead of sneaking out at first sunrise like the thief she was.
But wondering wouldn’t bring Sable back, and it wouldn’t fix things with Calla.
That second part should’ve felt hopeless, if not for one thing.
Riley was still tolerated on her ship. Calla could’ve easily told Riley to get lost as soon as they reached the Gullet, and she hadn’t.
That had to mean something. Maybe Calla was keeping Riley around for Sable’s sake, for when they found her, despite her crude comment from earlier.
Or maybe she planned to have Riley finish what she’d started once they got their hands on the Heart of the Abyss again.
Or maybe, just maybe… and Riley hated how her heart fluttered at that, but maybe Calla did actually care about her, somewhere beneath all that anger and hurt.
Riley didn’t know. All she knew was that, for the first time in years, she didn’t want to run and leave a mess behind.
She wanted to fix things. Perhaps if she’d realized that before the Heart had, then fixing this mess wouldn’t seem so impossible.
So Riley vowed to figure out the important things before it was too late.
Problem was, she had no idea how to do that.
It would take a lot more thinking than she was used to doing.
A lot of searching inside, which sounded vague and frustrating.
So far, all the extra thinking she’d been doing told her she really needed to keep pestering Calla, even if it seemed to get her nowhere.
For now, though, Calla was right. She couldn’t step foot on land, but Riley could, and that meant she could prove herself to be useful. If there was any information to be found during their pit stop at the Gullet, Riley would find it.
Though maybe not by herself. It was another thing Riley had figured she could work on.
Trusting other people. Asking for help. Not doing everything alone all the time.
Because she knew now that if she’d allowed herself to trust her feelings for Sable, if she’d allowed herself to see what Calla had really been trying to do back in that cave, by pretending she didn’t care whether Riley made off with the Heart, she could’ve made different choices. Better choices.
But it didn’t have to be this way all the time, right? People could change. She could change.
So Riley went against her better instincts and went to find Nyxen.
He was coiling a length of rope as he stared beyond the railing.
“Hello, Riley,” he said, low and even, without even glancing at her.
Riley followed his gaze to the approaching pirate cove, all jagged rocks and dark mouths of galleries opening on frothing waters, as if some sort of worm had slithered through the stone of the mountain and eaten it from the inside out.
It seemed strange that anyone lived there. It looked far from hospitable.
Nyxen stared at the Gullet intently, as if he wanted to see through the layers of stone, and something clicked as Riley studied his face, his posture.
She felt like a fool for not figuring it out sooner, because it was so obvious.
Kittredge leaving without a word had hurt him.
He was worried. He thought–or hoped–they might find her there.
“Nyxen,” she greeted, leaning against the railing. The cold of the metal against her hip seeped through her clothes.
She closed her eyes as a sudden gust of wind ruffled her curls and breathed in the sea air, thick with brine and the damp wood of the ship.
The sensation soothed some of the tightness in her chest. Riley wasn’t sure when that had happened either.
Finding the water and the sea air soothing.
It was ironic considering she still didn’t know how to swim.
“Calla said to search for clues together once we dock,” Riley said eventually.
It was a stretch, and Nyxen didn’t immediately react. Then he dragged his gaze to hers, a wry twist to his mouth. “Calla said that?”
Riley shrugged. “She said I could come. Same thing.”
His eyebrows raised, a faint spark of amusement in his eyes. “Or you could just ask me.”
Riley pressed her lips together, thinking. “Alright,” she said, drawing out the word. She was supposed to be trying to change, but this felt hard for some reason. She pushed the question out with some effort. “Can I come?”
Nyxen’s smile was more genuine this time. “Yes, Riley. I could use an extra pair of eyes.”
Riley breathed out, more than a little relieved. Maybe this didn’t have to be so hard.
***
The Gullet was unlike any place Riley had ever been to.
There were no docks on the outside of the mountain, and they sailed inside one of the gallery mouths opening up at its base.
The cool shadow falling over the deck made Riley shiver and pull her collar up high.
Once inside, every splash magnified against the cavern walls until it sounded like waves breaking in unison.
It wasn’t long before the gallery opened up ahead, high and wide and spattered with lights that went from pink to blue and purple, bathing the ships and the buildings and the people in everchanging colors.
A faint scent of damp stone, earthy musk and smoke from dockside cookfires washed over her as they made berth.
Three other ships were already docked. Nyxen had told her this was just one of the Gullet’s several docks.
And she could well believe it. As soon as they stepped off the ship, Riley’s boots glued to the stone beneath as she stared ahead.
Beyond the wide arch of the dock, a myriad of other, smaller galleries snaked their way all around, leading deeper inside the mountain’s bowels.
Houses and shops and merchant stalls and taverns littered the walls as far as the eye could see.
And more of those colorful lights peppered the corners between streets and walls.
She squinted up at the ceiling, trying to make out what they were, and her eyes widened.
Mushrooms. Dozens, hundreds of them, emanating a soft, cheery light, alongside lamps and torches hung all over along the streets and galleries’ walls.
The place looked like a proper town. A whole town lived in by pirates. Nothing like Vareth’s dilapidated and nearly dead dock towns. No, this was–flourishing, alive and nearly vibrating with energy.
Pirates caught up in loading or unloading cargo, barely giving them a second glance as they huffed and puffed about.
A woman balancing a crate on one shoulder, cursing as a child darted between her legs.
A dice game further off, punctuated by cheers and groans.
A couple haggling with a grumpy merchant up ahead.
Most of them were relaxed, at ease, despite the weapons glinting at their belts.
“How is this possible?” Riley asked, dumbfounded. “I thought people couldn’t live outside of Vareth. What is this place?”
Nyxen flashed her a grin, crossing his arms as he looked about the dockside.
His shoulders had lost some of their previous tension.
He felt comfortable here. “No one knows,” he said, and he didn’t sound at all bothered by it.
“But it’s safe. The sea isn’t touching us here.
” A frown crossed the smooth plains of his face.
“Not while we’re inside, at least. Sometimes ships crash against the rocks if the sea’s feeling moody.
” He shrugged as if that were just a minor inconvenience.
Riley blinked. “How many of these kinds of places are there?”
“Just the one. The other pirate coves need to move around all the time, so you’ll never find them in the same place twice. But the Gullet? It’s stood undisturbed for decades. So we make use of it.”
Riley looked down at the stone beneath her feet, and her lips parted to ask another question when someone flung themselves at her with a shout. The hug felt like an attack, a sprawl of sharp angles and too-long arms, and it scared the shit out of her.
“Riley!”
Riley stared down at the startlingly familiar head of fiery hair, and her heart stopped in her throat. Her eyes snapped to Nyxen’s, and he, too, stared at the boy hugging her like he’d just seen a ghost.
Just as suddenly as he’d clung to Riley, the boy’s head snapped up, and Nyxen was his next victim. “Nyxen!”
Riley blinked, feeling utterly lost. “...Pip?” she asked, dumbfounded.
Was she dreaming? She pinched herself as Pip let go of Nyxen, who had yet to say a word or move at all, and she flinched at the sting of it. Nope. This was real.
“That’s me!” Pip beat a fist against his chest proudly, beaming at the both of them.
And then he laughed. His laughter cut through the cavern’s echoes like a burst of violently bright sunlight.
“You look so shocked! And pale! Do you need to sit down? You can touch me, I promise I’m real!
” He sounded incredibly smug, and even more chipper than she remembered him.
Then, suddenly, he did his best approximation of being stern, though the words came out in a high-pitched squeak. “But don’t pinch me!”
Riley’s lips parted. Closed. “What?”
“Wait, slow down,” Nyxen said, drawing himself out of the shock. “How are you alive? All of us saw you go into the water. Eryx saw the sirens take you. We had–we had a funeral.” His voice was faint, and he did indeed look pale, and like he needed to sit down.
Pip grinned wider at that. “They did take me!” And then his expression soured. “But they…” His eyebrows furrowed, and he pouted. “Well, I can’t tell you here. Too many ears, and they made me promise to only talk to people I trust. But I can tell you once we’re back on the Moonshadow!”
Riley’s eyes widened. “They talked to you? The sirens?”
Pip perked right back up. “Yeah!” His next grin looked in danger of splitting his face.
“Oh, also! Before I forget! Sable told me to tell you she and Kittredge are headed to–” He paused, thought hard.
“Uh, the volcano island? It started with C, I think? Anyway, they said not to follow, and that they’ll be back.
” He nodded to himself, pleased, and Riley didn’t get the chance to take a breath before he fired off again, “Where’s the captain?
I can’t wait to see her again! And Eryx!
They’re gonna be so shocked I’m still alive! ”
Riley’s thoughts came to a stutter, and she grabbed Pip’s arm to pause his wild gesticulations. “Wait,” she said slowly. “You said Sable?” she asked, heart pounding so loudly in her ears she feared she wouldn’t hear the reply.
“And Kit?” Nyxen asked in the same hopeful tone.
Pip nodded enthusiastically, his copper-red curls bobbing with the motion.
“Yup! They were in a rush, so they couldn’t linger, but they asked me to stay behind so I could update all of you.
” He frowned then, suddenly pensive. “Though if they were headed to the volcano island it’s weird they were in such a rush, because the only ship sailing in that direction left yesterday. ”
“The volcano island… You mean Korrava?” Nyxen asked, his eyes now sharp and eager.
“Yup! That’s the one!”
Nyxen nodded to himself. “And how many days ago did you meet them?”
“Three!”
Riley and Nyxen exchanged a look, clearly thinking the same thing. Wherever Sable and Kittredge had gone, it wasn’t Korrava. But they were both alive, and together, and that was more than Riley had dared hope for. And now they had a trail to follow.
Nyxen wrapped an arm around Pip’s shoulders, and they started walking. “Come, there’s a lot we need to fill you in on.”