30. Sage #2
“I guess I never thought about it like that.”
The barmaid came over and refilled our glasses, which I appreciated at that point. Adrian had coiled back down, but was now next to me rather than across, which I couldn’t say I minded.
“Would you like to try again?”
“What?”
“To get in the ocean.”
I sputtered into my drink, choking on the sip I took. “Absolutely not.”
“It could be fun,” he said.
“I doubt it.”
“Come on, I’ll help you.”
“How are you supposed to help me get over my fear of the ocean?”
“I’m sure I can figure it out.”
“I think you believe you could get to one of the moons if you tried hard enough.”
“With a bit of willpower, anything is possible.”
This new nostalgic feeling I had made me want to consider his offer briefly.
“I think I’m still scared,” I admitted.
His hand landed in mine, calloused and rough from all the labor he did.
“That’s OK,” he said. “We can start slow, and if you really hate it, we can stop.”
His words were reassuring, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready.
“Come on,” he said, gripping my hand. He threw some coins down on the counter and turned us around, out the door and back down the road.
Instead of going towards the dock, he led us left, where the sand from the beach gathered.
When we reached the edge, I paused, unsure if I could even step onto the sand.
Adrian paused with me, not making me go any faster than I wanted to.
The ocean waves crashed against the edge, the loud woosh heard even from over here.
“Ready?” he asked. There was no sense of urgency in his voice, only a genuine question.
I nodded, nervously taking a couple steps forward. My impractical heels sunk into the sand, throwing me off balance. They probably would have tripped me if it wasn’t for Shadowhart being there to catch me. His tail shot out, wrapping around me and keeping me steady.
I used his grip for balance and took off both heels, holding them in my other hand.
The sand was so warm against my feet. It sank between my toes, falling into every piece of me that it could.
It had been so long I was sure I had forgotten what it felt like, but that same gritty, almost ticklish feeling was one I recognized easily.
We took a couple more steps toward the ocean, until we were about halfway across the beach.
“Want to sit here for a little while?” Shadowhart asked.
That did sound like a good idea. I informed him so, and then laid my skirts so I was able to sit with my knees propped up and my face resting on them. He lowered down next to me. He sat close enough that we were touching, and I let myself lean into the comfort just a bit.
The sound of the waves was more soothing than I recalled. The salty air was especially dense here. I’ve been smelling it for weeks, but in a more muted way from below deck.
“Are you going to ask your question?” Adrian asked.
“My question?” I replied.
“Yeah, a question for a question,” he said. “I always keep my word.”
“That seems to be the case,” I confirmed.
I took a few moments to consider what I actually wanted to ask him. I found I had so many questions, choosing just one was proving to be difficult.
“What’s up with the pocket watch?” I finally settled on.
He obviously wasn’t expecting the question. “My pocket watch?”
I nodded. “The one you always carry.” He would rub it, just like I would my necklace, he just had his hand in his pocket instead.
He pulled it out, examining it closely. “It was a gift,” he said.
“To Coltar and I both, from Tungesten. We’d seen the pair at a stall on one of the stops we made.
Neither of us could scrape the coin together for them, but a few days later he gave one to each of us. Called it a bonus for our hard work.”
“That’s nice,” I said.
He nodded, gazing out to the ocean. “And since they’re both gone, I always carry it with me.”
I swallowed. “Is he the one you mentioned earlier? The one who passed?”
He only nodded.
“Can I see it?”
He looked very apprehensive, but handed it over after a few moments. I looked at the gold casing closely. The filigree and all the detail work was the exact same as the one I found in my room. Had that been Coltar’s? I wasn’t sure, but either way, I should give it back to Adrian when we got back.
“It’s pretty,” I said as I passed it back.
He was quiet for a bit. “This was where he died.”
“This island?”
His head bobbed. “It wasn’t long after I became a captain. He wanted to go out and I stayed back, needing to be up bright and early to set off. But when I awoke the next morning, he hadn’t returned.”
“That’s… scary,” I said.
“It was. I looked for him all day. It’s a small place, he couldn’t have gotten far. And he hadn’t. I found him in one of the back alleys.”
I gasped, my fingers playing in my skirts. “What happened to him.”
“I’m still not sure,” he admitted bitterly. “He was pretty… hard to recognize.”
I laid against him further. His reasoning for wanting to continue on making more sense now. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’ve accepted it.” But there was a fire in his eyes that told me it might not be fully true.
I stood, brushing off my skirts. “We should get back.”
If it was Coltar’s, I wanted to get it back to Adrian as soon as possible. He probably thought it was lost with Coltar, and I could give him some closure.
“Sure,” he said. “This was good exposure therapy.”
“If you want to call it that,” I said. “It’s not like I got into the water.”
“It’s all about the baby steps,” he assured.
I shrugged. He took my arm as we walked back towards the ship.
The dock was pretty at night. Small magestone-powered lights strung from ropes lining either side, casting a dim glow over the entire area.
And there were much fewer people here by now, most of them probably at their own ship or back at the single bar we had patronized.
“Thank you for tonight,” I started as we neared the ship towards the end of the dock. “I know you have a lot to do on your ship but I’m grat—”
My words left me as a scream pierced the air. I realized too late it was my scream, as one of the boards below me cracked, and I was freefalling directly into the water below.
One minute I was standing there, and the next I was in the water.
As soon as my brain caught up to my body, I tried to force myself to swim upward, but in my panic, it felt like I wasn’t going anywhere.
For a moment, I was sure I was going to go under and never return.
Every fear I had had was coming to fruition right now.
A bright light exploded from behind my eyelids. Was I seeing this elusive light people talked about that led the dead to the after?
Even with the salt burning, I opened my eyes, needing to know for myself. That’s when I realized the light wasn’t made up, it was real. And it was coming from me.
My accursed necklace.
Before I could think on it further, I was being pulled from the sea, Adrian’s arm wrapped around my waist, tail powerfully pushing us both back towards the shore.
As we breached the beach, I fell to my hands and knees, coughing and sputtering to catch my breath.
“Are you OK?” he asked, turning me towards him.
“Yeah I’m—” I stopped, both of us watching the bright light retreating from my necklace. Rewinding the light shot out like a bolt. It looked like it came from another point, further out in the water, that was shot straight up.
As soon as the light was reeled all the way back, the large light point in the distance disappeared, as if it was never there.
If Adrian hadn’t been here, I would have assumed I just made the whole thing up, but it was clear as the moons.
“What the fuck was that?” he asked.
We stared at each other dumbly, each of us trying to figure out what we just witnessed. I had no clue, but this was the first time I’d seen it do… anything.
“I think we need to go talk to Bramwell,” he said.
“I think you might be right.”
Whatever was going on, it was way out of my depth.