Chapter 58
Esmyra
Valor’s deck erupted at Esmyra’s command.
The crew surged forward, every man finding their place as some moved to the rigging, some to the rails, some back below deck to man the cannons. Beside her, fire burst to life. Draevyn’s hands flared in an instant, twin infernos spilling from his palms, casting his face in molten gold.
Every inch of him emanated The Phoenix.
The wind shifted next, whipping across the deck, making the sails groan. Jak’s eyes narrowed, his lips pulling back in something between a grin and a snarl as the air itself bent to his will as he stood at her opposite side.
The first hints of dawn spread across the horizon, pale gold streaking the clouds. But as the sun climbed, something unnatural twisted the sky. The light dimmed and warped, colors bleeding into one another, and Esmyra’s stomach dropped as she realized the cause.
The moon had turned a deep crimson, rising alongside the sun as if the realm itself were caught in a slow, cruel turning. The sky above them flushed a violent red, reflecting across the waters in jagged streaks.
The Moon of Malya. It had risen. The blood moon that held the last thread of power to seal the forbidden bond now rose in the sky.
A pulse of magic thrummed in Esmyra’s veins like a drumbeat of war. Every nerve, every fiber of her being tingled with it, and she could feel her goddess stirring.
“It’s time to take back what’s ours. The sea bows to no one but us.” A chill raced down her spine as Kaelypso’s voice enveloped her mind.
Esmyra’s eyes glazed slightly as the world around her dimmed, her heartbeat syncing to the rhythm of their combined power.
Waves slammed against the hull with renewed ferocity, lightning flashed across the blood red sky, and the flames held in Draevyn’s palms seemed to flare in resonance with her pulse.
She could feel the weight of the oceans, and the fury of the goddess within, calling for retribution.
She was poised on the cusp of unleashing herself, ready to let her wrath tear their enemy apart.
A harsh voice cut through the air. “You think the sea bends to you, little goddess?”
It was Azarian, his tone mocking. Esmyra blinked, and Kaelypso thrashed within her, trying to claw her way out to destroy the male herself. Her pulse still throbbed, the fire within her simmering with impatience.
The skin of her wrist burned as the bond inside her whispered, reminding Esmyra she could take Syrena’s power and strength, just as her sister planned to do to her.
Her mind flickered to Jenli’s words: The stronger will consume the weaker.
But Esmyra didn’t want her sister’s power. She wouldn’t rest until both Syrena and Naerysa were destroyed.
“One of these days you men will come to recognize that the sea doesn’t bend to my will.” She stepped forward, her fingers stretching outward as a trident of pure, flowing water spiraled into existence like liquid steel. “I am the sea.”
I am the storm. I am the depths. And I am the fucking monster within.
Azarian smirked at her words, his beady eyes gleaming from across the ships.
Her body shivered as Kaelypso stirred. Muscles elongated, skin shimmered with a faint luminescence, and her eyes flared with a silver light.
Her hair lifted as if caught in an unseen tide as it morphed from midnight to silver strands.
A subtle hum radiated from her, vibrating through the deck as what was once runes marking her arms pulsated and swirled across her flesh in ribbons of teal.
Esmyra glanced over her shoulder and found her crew had frozen. Their mouths were agape, weapons lowered as disbelief painted their faces. They had never seen her like this. Their captain no longer stood before them as she became something divine, the air itself seeming to bend around her presence.
And then several roars of triumph split the air as her crew offered their allegiance to her in this new form.
Draevyn’s gaze met hers as he nodded, slow and approving. The warmth and strength behind that simple gesture steadied her, grounding her in the rush of power building within.
Across the water, Azarian laughed. It was a dark, cruel sound that echoed over the waves. “Hello, Kae,” he sneered, his eyes glinting with amusement and challenge. “It’s lovely to see you again.”
Her gaze swept across the decks of Maerinys’s ships, a sinking feeling fell in her stomach as she watched the citizens who once cheered for her rebirth turn on her so quickly.
Azarian noticed. “They were all eager to show where their loyalties lie. Once they heard of Kaelypso’s betrayal to Maerinys, they knew they must protect their one true goddess of the sea.”
A rush of power flooded her veins at the taunt.
“They have taken everything. Our homes. Our lives. Our loves. Every joy, every treasure, every heartbeat that was ours… they ripped it from us and thought we would kneel.”
Kaelypso’s words burned, wrapping around her soul like living flames. “Let the fury we’ve held merge and become a force that cannot be denied. Let it consume us. Let us take back what is ours. Take back everything they stole, every last shred of what they dared to claim as theirs.”
Their rage was sharpened by injustice, their wrath fed by loss.
It all rose within her, burning hotter than the sun.
“You’ll perish by day’s end,” Azarian roared as he lifted his spear in the air, the moon above casting the ocean in bloody light.
“No fucking mercy, boys.” Esmyra’s words to her crew were a blade, and her power a tidal wave, sweeping across the deck as she released a battle cry of fury.
Chaos reigned then.
Half of the enemy crew leapt overboard in unison, their bodies twisting midair as they shifted into their siren forms, tails slicing through the water as they tore toward the sides of Valor. The other half swung down from ropes, landing on their deck.
Wood splintered beneath grappling hooks, and metal clashed as blades collided. The air filled with grunts, curses, and the cries of combat. Around her, her crew responded with a ferocity equal to hers. They had become an unstoppable force, a storm of magic and steel.
Draevyn stepped up to her side, his lip curling in disgust as a growl ripped through his chest. His eyes were fixated on Azarian, who remained on his ship that was now burning, succumbing to the Phoenix’s flames.
He was just staring at them, spear in hand as an infuriating grin spread across his face.
“He’s mine,” Esmyra demanded, silver hair whipping around her face.
Without another word, Draevyn nodded and stormed across the deck.
He became a hurricane of fire, igniting several of the other ships at once.
Their flames roared to life along the decks, spreading across sails.
The sea hissed as fire met water, and steam rose in angry plumes.
Her lips parted at the sight of him commanding such precise destruction with nothing but rage.
The air thickened as Esmyra called upon her power. She began to levitate, hovering above their ship as water rose from the sea in violent spirals, the moon’s reflection tinging it with a hint of red, before she sent them soaring toward Azarian like a living weapon.
She unleashed it in a devastating torrent aimed straight at him, a wall of wave and wrath.
“I am your end!” Her scream carried over the clamor.
Azarian barely dodged, the water smashing into the deck with enough force to send everything aboard flying.
Metal clashed against steel as her crew fought relentlessly against the Maerinysean soldiers.
Jenli’s vines ripped weapons from enemies’ hands. Jak’s winds tore across the decks, pushing their attackers back and giving their men space to strike. And every direction Riven pointed his hand, a soldier screamed as he made them see their fears.
She turned and watched Azarian recover from her strike. Her eyes narrowed, hands trembling with the power coursing through her. With a guttural scream that carried the weight of centuries, she unleashed all the fury, all the loss, all the wildfire upon Azarian.
The sea convulsed beneath the vessel as massive waves tore at it.
Wood splintered and cracked with a deafening roar, and the fanned sails shredded beneath the sheer force of her magic.
The deck heaved violently as the ship snapped in two, sending Azarian flying, and water pouring into the gaping chasm that formed in its center.
Esmyra’s gaze swept over the wreckage. The ship sank further, groaning and creaking, until it disappeared beneath the waves entirely, leaving no trace of the witch.
Then several sirens breached the sides of Valor, claws scraping and talons raking along the wood as they ascended. Their insidious, haunting hum began to fill the air, threading into the minds of her crew.
Esmyra’s stomach twisted. She knew that song—knew every note and vibration as the language of sirens. They were forcing mind manipulation upon her men, pulling on their hearts and wills.
Fear prickled along her spine, but anger flared hot in her veins.
Jak caught her eye, and her heart leapt in her throat. Not only was he in a trance but also locked in the arms of a siren perched on the railing. Her claws dug into the wood as she flashed a grin at Esmyra. In the blink of an eye, she leapt, dragging Jak overboard.
“No!” Esmyra screamed, her voice shattering over the chaos of the battle.
Inside her, Kaelypso roared in agreement. From the deck, the currents pulled and twisted, shaping themselves into a whip of force aimed at the siren.
Water answered at her command, spiraling around the bitch like living chains and ripping Jak from her grasp in the water. The siren screeched in fury as her head broke the surface, baring her sharpened canines at Esmyra.
The currents she commanded guided Jak back onto the deck, placing him on his feet as water splashed onto the boards.
Esmyra raced to him, her eyes wild as she pulled him to his feet. “You need to block out their song!”
“I’ve been a little busy!” he barked back.