Chapter Sixty-Four
ELARA
Elara felt Scorpius’s wicked magick drain from her slowly as her body dried out, far from the water. It was only when she heard a low groan that she moved.
She scrambled up, gasping in horror.
Scorpius’s poisonous waters had eaten away at the crab’s beautiful shell. Its wounds from the Scorpydra were clear to see, great gouges in its flesh. Chunks hung off its body, withering before her very eyes.
Elara slid as gently as she could from the mythas’s back, running towards its head.
He blinked dolefully up at her with big black eyes.
‘Sweet Moon,’ he whispered, breath rattling. ‘It really is you.’
Elara couldn’t stop the tears that welled up as she pressed a palm to the crab’s head. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered. How much death had been wrought in her name? She didn’t think she could take another.
‘It is an honour to have died saving you.’ A slow blink. ‘I dreamed of being able to meet you again.’
Elara shook her head, trying to stroke his now vulnerable back.
‘Before I die, I have a message. Promise you’ll convey it.’
‘Anything,’ she said, blinking furiously.
‘Tell the pirate to never let the pearl go. It’s more precious than gold or silver. And tell him to forgive her, when the time comes.’
‘Who?’ Elara asked.
A stuttering breath left the mythas. ‘I don’t remember a life where I didn’t wear armour,’ he said faintly, his eyes blinking up at the sky. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve felt sunlight upon my skin.’
Elara stayed beside him, holding a pincer as it slowly stiffened.
‘Perhaps this was all worth it, to have met with the Moon once more.’
He went still.
Elara bowed her head. She heard movement behind her and looked up to see Enzo. She said nothing as she fell into his arms, her own lighthouse in a storm. He too remained silent as he held her, shielding her from the crash of the waves against the shore.