Chapter 19 Rhianelle #2
Not as the annihilating wrath of a god that would have erased everything, but as a rising tide. It climbs the streets instead of tearing them apart. It swallows the lowest tier of buildings. The harbor fills completely, docks vanishing beneath the surface, ships straining at their anchors.
And still it rises.
It creeps toward the cliff fortresses, toward the carved gates of the upper districts. Soon it will lap at the stone foundations.
But people are running, climbing, and escaping. They have time now.
The kingdom watches in breathless awe.
“The water is tainted,” Nimue whispers, and I hear the exhaustion in her voice. “Not much, but enough. It will seep into the earth. Into wells and roots.”
Ksatka and the others neutralized most of it but traces remain. Enough to poison groundwater and to kill us slowly.
“I will cleanse it.” Her voice is barely audible.
It will cost her.
Nimue raises her arms again. This time, instead of pushing the water away, she draws it toward herself. The tainted water rises from where it pools in the streets, from the harbor, from everywhere the poisoned wave touched. It flows toward her in streams and rivulets.
She begins to absorb it.
I watch in horror as the corruption enters her translucent form. Dark veins spread through her body like cracks in ice. She gasps and the sound is agony.
“Nimue, stop!” I lunge forward but Svenn catches my arm.
“The venom is dangerous,” he says quietly. His grip is iron. He won’t let me near it.
“She’s killing herself!” Sobs tear from my throat.
Nimue pulls more of the tainted water into herself. The darkness spreads further, consuming the light that makes up her essence. She’s taking the poison that would have killed thousands, concentrating it in her own body.
Her legs buckle. She falls to her knees on the lighthouse platform, still drawing the corruption in. Tears stream down her face, but she doesn’t stop.
“Almost,” she gasps. “Almost done.”
The last of the tainted water flows into her. For a moment, she glows with a strange violet hue. It fades and she collapses. I break free from Svenn and catch her before she hits the stone. She weighs almost nothing. It’s like holding mist.
“Nimue,” I whisper, cradling her. “Why?”
She smiles weakly. “You called me friend of your heart. Friends help each other.”
“But the poison—“
“Will fade. Eventually.” Her form flickers dangerously. “This tiny amount won’t kill me. It will just... hurt. For a very long time.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She reaches up with a trembling hand to touch my face. “Do you remember? Years ago, when we first met. I was hiding in that cave, terrified of the villagers who wanted to drive me out. You brought me clothes and said every lady deserves to feel beautiful.”
I remember. She’d been so shy, so frightened.
“I still have them,” Nimue whispers. “I wear them sometimes, when I’m alone in the deep lake.”
“Nimue—“
“Your harbor will remember me now,” she continues, her voice growing fainter. “I’ve woven protections into the water. Any who come with ill intent will find the sea itself standing against them...”
The shadow veil still hides her from the watching crowds but I can see her clearly. Exhausted, diminished by what she’s given, poisoned by her sacrifice. But also proud. She did it. Despite her terror, despite her nature, she saved us all.
“Thank you,” I whisper and it’s not enough.
Coinneach bows to her. My lady’s courage is matched only by her power.
She actually blushes, if water wraiths can blush. “The shadows... could they stay? Just a moment more? Until I...”
As long as you need, Coinneach assures her.
She begins to fade, sinking back through the summoning circle. Just before she disappears completely, she looks at me.
“Be brave, Rhianelle.”
Then she’s gone, and Coinneach lets the shadows fall.
The crowd on the cliffs erupts in celebration. They saw the water stop and transform, their city saved by a goddess.
But they don’t know about the shy wraith who needed darkness to find her strength. They don’t know she poisoned herself to save them. I collapse to my knees, completely drained. The summoning alone nearly killed me. Watching Nimue work was like staring into the heart of the ocean itself.
Svenn catches me before I hit the platform floor. “You did it.”
“Nimue did it. And Ken.” I look at the shadow being, who’s already beginning to fade back into Svenn’s darkness. “Thank you.”
He inclines his head. Water and shadow have always been allies. The lady needed only to remember she wasn’t alone.
Then he’s gone too. It’s just Svenn and me on the lighthouse platform, looking out at a city that should have been destroyed.
The wave still struck Volundr. Our harbor is destroyed, the lowest tier flooded.
But most of the people reached safety. They’re alive because of Nimue’s sacrifice.
Because Coinneach gave her the sanctuary she needed.
Because a dragon matriarch and her kin chose to die rather than let the poison spread.
This is just the beginning. Eirik Bloodhound has more forces and more strategies to deploy.
But today, we’re alive. The city stands.
Svenn lifts me gently. I don’t have the strength to protest as he carries me down the lighthouse stairs. My legs won’t hold me anymore.
When we emerge at the base, the crowd sees us. A cheer erupts from the survivors. They press close, reaching out to touch my hand, my armor, anything.
“You saved us, Your Highness!”
“The sea goddess answered your call!”
“Volundr stands!”
Their joy is infectious. I manage a smile for them, but inside my chest aches.
Ksatka and six of her kin are gone. I look toward the harbor where Kiiska floats beside Kaeko, the young male dragon pressing close to comfort her grief.
Nimue is suffering somewhere in the deep pond of Astefar, poisoned by her sacrifice. The price of this victory weighs heavy.
Rainer pushes through the crowd toward us. Behind him, I see Shade, Aelfric, and Garrett. Lady Deirdre appears with my handmaidens, their fine dresses ruined by seawater but their faces bright with relief.
“Your Highness!” Lady Deirdre rushes forward. “Thank the gods.”
Siofra stumbles from a nearby building, clutching her newborn against her chest. Darstan runs to meet her, wrapping them both in his arms. The baby wails and something in my chest warms at the sound.
Svenn lowers me gently to my feet.
Coral barrels through the crowd like an overexcited hound, nearly knocking me over. The wyvern nuzzles my face, whimpering with relief.
I look at Svenn. “She’s safe.”
He nods.
I’m counting survivors when hoofbeats shatter the moment.
A Noctral materializes at the edge of the crowd. The creature’s fur is streaked with soot, its eyes wide and wild. These horses can travel anywhere before sunset, but this one looks like it ran through fire to get here.
The rider slides off and immediately collapses. I see the extent of his burns. His clothes are charred, his armor half-melted, and his face blistered.
“Your Highness,” he gasps, trying to kneel but failing. “Message from the capital...”
He falls forward.
I’m at his side in an instant, hands already glowing with healing light. Lady Deirdre kneels across from me, adding her Anastarros blessing to mine. The scout screams as our power touches his burns, but the blisters begin to fade.
“What’s the message?” Rainer demands when I can’t find my voice.
The scout looks up. His eyes are hollow with horrors witnessed. “The western regions have fallen. The fae came with wyverns. A hundred of them, maybe more. They’re burning everything.”
The celebration on the cliffs hasn’t stopped but I can’t hear it anymore. All I can hear is the beating of my heart and the echo of the scout’s words.
We saved Volundr from the sea.
But the realm is burning from the sky.
“Your Highness,” the scout continues, each word clearly agony through his burned throat. “The capital... the capital is under siege.”
I stare past him, numb with grief and dread. I look out at my saved city, at the people celebrating their survival, at Kahedin’s ships now sailing into our protected harbor.
Then I look west, where smoke is beginning to darken the horizon.
The real war has begun.