CHAPTER SEVENTEEN #2
“Correct,” Larimar said simply. “You want me to lend you my powers so that you can assist the, as the citizens of your city refer to them, ‘Strangers,’ in their present siege of your city.”
My eyes snapped back up, my embarrassment temporarily forgotten. “What do you mean by ‘present siege?’”
There was a pause. “You are unaware, then, of the battle that is taking place on the eastern shore of Cyllene.”
I swallowed. “Yes, completely unaware. Please tell me, what battle?”
“The ‘Strangers’ are attempting to enter Cyllene from the water. Their understanding is that this is the weakest point of entry. The citizens that your city calls ‘Enforcers’ are defending Cyllene against the attack.”
I thought I had experienced enough shocking revelations to last a lifetime. Yet here was another one.
The marsh wolf skins. The cave devil weapons. The Leviathan scales that would have made impenetrable, waterproof shields. All things that would allow the Strangers to approach and invade, undetected until the last minute, from the ocean.
I dropped my head into my hands and let out a sigh of frustration.
As expected, Larimar remained silent. Then, unexpectedly, “What is that liquid?”
Larimar was pointing their fin at the small jar sitting on the edge of the tub.
I stood immediately and grabbed it. Turning the shower head away from us, I held the container out in both hands for Larimar to inspect.
“This is bubble bath,” I explained. “It’s meant to have a pleasant scent. This one is lavender.”
Larimar tilted their head to the side. Waiting. For what?
Oh. A demonstration.
Without another word, I unscrewed the lid and dumped some of the contents of the bottle just below the spray from the shower. It didn’t take long for thick, purplish foam to begin forming.
The bubble bath, yet another rare luxury that Brielle had gifted me, had only been used once or twice.
Luxuriating in a bath wasn’t really my thing.
As I breathed in the sweet scent of lavender, I tried to imagine what Brielle’s reaction would be if she knew it had been used in the presence of an ancient, intimidating, and apparently curious water spirit.
Larimar knelt and cupped a mound of light purple bubbles in their fin-like hands. As they stood, some of the bubbles floated into the air. Larimar’s gaze followed the bubbles’ path.
I hadn’t thought it was possible for this encounter to become more absurd. Yet here we were.
“You can have it if you want,” I said lamely, holding out the still half-full jar.
“I have no use for bubble bath,” Larimar said, even as they examined the bubbles again. While Larimar did what I could only describe as poking a few bubbles with their pearly fins, I shut off the shower to keep the tub from overflowing. The quiet that followed only added to the awkwardness.
After a moment, Larimar stood up straight and directed their full attention toward me again. “You were not aware of the conflict taking place. What, then, do you need my magic for?”
“The Enforcers have detained both me and Kieran. My room is being guarded as we speak. And I know it’s worse for Kieran. They’re probably…” I struggled to finish the sentence. “They’re probably torturing him.”
If Larimar knew anything about that, they did not let on. “What is it that you wish to do?” they asked.
“I wish,” I began. “To have enough magic that I can disarm the Enforcers. Not kill them or seriously hurt them, but just temporarily disarm and disable them. And then I need to break Kieran out of wherever they’re holding him and get him to safety.”
Although Larimar wore no expression, they tilted their head again. I was beginning to understand that they did this in the same manner that humans did, when considering. “Kieran’s companions are currently engaged in conflict. What of that?”
What of that was right. “I’m not sure what to do about that yet. I just need to get Kieran out of Cyllene.”
The water spirit studied me carefully. When they spoke, it was with a slight sense of accomplishment, as though they had figured out the answer to a puzzle. “You are, to again use a phrase invented by your kind, in love with this Kieran.”
Hearing the words spoken aloud should have alarmed me. It had been driven into me over and over again, all my life, that having something to love was having something to lose. But instead of feeling panicked, I felt a strange sense of peace.
“Yes,” I whispered. Then I added, “Larimar, I can’t lose anyone else.
I had a family who loved me, and they were taken from me.
Ripped away from me. I thought I would die from the pain of losing them.
And in some ways, I think I did. But now I have someone in my life who I love…
and not just Kieran. I have multiple people in my life who I care about, who mean something to me.
And I can’t let them be taken from me, too.
” My voice had gained strength as I went on.
“I won’t let them be taken from me. Especially not Kieran. ”
The smooth skin of Larimar’s face adjusted slightly, a minor shifting.
I couldn’t quite say what had changed. They still lacked any particular expression, but something about them seemed…
softened. “You are aware,” they said. “That Kieran is not of your kind. He is descended from the Oryxians on his father’s side.
He is living alongside humans now, as one of you, but that cannot last forever. It is not the way of things.”
The words were not said harshly. They were not even said as a warning, really. They were merely a statement of fact.
“Yes,” I said without hesitating. Then I realized I hadn’t known that, not exactly, so I amended, “I don’t care.”
There was a long pause. Then, “Very well.”
Larimar extended their fin. It took only a moment for me to realize what I was meant to do. With a deep breath, I extended my hand to meet them.
The second we touched, my senses were overloaded.
A blast of sunlight. Salt air. A ripple on a pond. The taste of fresh spring water. The darkness at the bottom of the ocean. The thunder of a waterfall. Gliding through a school of fish. Splashing through rapids. The birth of a dolphin calf. A toad resting in a puddle.
And something that spread through me, making my hair stand on end. Zapping every nerve in my body as it passed.
It was strength.
It was power.