1. Vera #2
Starke exhaled in relief. “That’s it, then. Dead end. Time to go before the patrol catches us.”
But I stepped forward with a frown, taking in the wall. Why would it just end? Where were the sounds coming from?
When I squinted, I spotted dozens of thin cracks veining the surface of the red rock, spidering outward in uneven lines. I knelt and felt along the floor, my fingers tracing a gap at the bottom. A flicker of wind licked the tips of my fingers.
“It’s not a dead end, it’s just sealed,” I breathed out.
I set my pack down, pulled a tiny chisel from inside, and began tapping at the bottom. The sound echoed sharply through the tunnel. Starke nudged my shoulder. “Here,” he said, pulling a small mallet from a belt strapped to his waist.
That’s more like it. I grinned up at him and grabbed the handle. “Stand back.”
I drove the mallet into the wall several times.
With one last, powerful swing, the final crack split the air like thunder.
Dust billowed outward, and the slab of rock caved in on itself, shattering in piles at our feet.
Light from the lantern spilled into the darkness beyond. For a heartbeat, neither of us moved.
I pressed my lips together. “I think you may need some help salvaging this, Captain.”
I’d never seen so many bodies. And they were so old.
Hundreds of brittle, graying bones littered the circular cavern.
It looked like a burial ground. Fractured skulls and ribcages were scattered among the rocks, with spider carcasses and beetles nestled in eye sockets.
Some half-constructed skeletons were propped against the wall as if they’d been sitting.
Cobwebs hung from every corner, and old weapons lay rusted among the coppery dirt.
I picked one of the swords up by the handle, then hastily dropped it when a tiny snake wound its way up the blade.
Starke whistled. “What do you think happened here?”
“They probably got caught by the patrol.” When he shot me a glare, I smirked. “Kidding.”
He moved across the cave, bones and rocks crunching beneath his feet.
“Looks like pirates tried to loot the island and got trapped.” He set his lantern down and unsheathed his own sword.
Using the tip, he gingerly lifted a tarnished gold chain from around a skeleton’s neck.
“I don’t recognize the guild on this crest.”
I strode over to him. The front of the crest caught the lanternlight, gleaming a brilliant gold before Starke’s blade dropped it. But for a split second, I saw something.
I crouched before the skeleton, breaking through a cobweb to grab the end of the chain. Resting against my palm was a circular token, darkened at the edges but obviously an expensive piece of pure gold. That wasn’t what got my attention, though.
In the center was a bird, with striking, sharp wings extended majestically at its sides. Its plumed tail curved around the edge of the token. A beady eye made of a tiny ruby glinted back at me, as if it were winking.
A phoenix.
And the wings…they looked like mine.
My breath caught in my throat. Could this be a sign of why Mortep was spotted down here? He had always been obsessed with rare magic, and my phoenix Shifter form made me the rarest of them all. Enough to make him dig around in my mind and body to figure out what made me tick.
I swiftly yanked the chain, cracking the skeleton’s spine and sending his head toppling to the ground.
Starke tutted. “No respect for the dead.”
I winced. Maybe it was a little insensitive of me, dead bodies and lost souls and whatnot.
In a way, I felt connected to this dusty old captain.
I knew what it was like to feel as hollow as a skeleton.
A lifeless husk. Sometimes I still felt that way, when the memories of chains dug into my wrists, the needles and serums plunged into my skin.
“Mortep was here,” I said, clutching the token before pocketing it.
“How do you know?” Starke asked.
“I just do.” He wouldn’t understand. He didn’t know about my magic. He had no clue there was an entire land just south of the Shattered Spine that housed people born with all sorts of magical gifts. The phoenix imagery meant nothing to him, but it was everything to me.
“Look at this,” Starke called. He faced another skeleton lying a few yards away. “The navigator, perhaps? This looks like a map.”
I knelt once more at his side. He pulled out a brush and carefully swept the dirt from a weathered, wrinkled surface. Sure enough, in the clutches of skeletal fingers was a piece of parchment. A faded compass rose rested on the bottom corner.
“Careful,” I urged, sucking in a breath as he pulled the parchment from the death grip.
Starke raised an eyebrow at me. “I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you, V.”
“Sorry. Continue.” I pursed my lips, watching him loosen the map little by little. When it came free, I released a breath. “It’s torn,” I said, deflated. Above the compass rose was the bottom half of a large mass of land, ripped across the middle. “Do you recognize the continent?”
Starke’s brow furrowed as he pushed back a lock of hair that had come loose. “It doesn’t look like any of the islands. We can take it back to compare it with—”
The ceiling trembled. Rocks cascaded to the ground, coating us in dust. The floor vibrated as bones rattled against stone, bodies of the fallen crewmembers unraveling and falling to their sides.
“Alright, that’s it. We need to get out of here.” Starke firmly gripped my hand, yanking me to my feet.
My eyes were glued to the navigator. “But what if there’s—”
“Nope.” He tugged me forward right as the entire cave rumbled. “We’re not dying for this.”
“You’re no fun,” I grumbled, letting him push me ahead of him toward the exit.
I thought I heard him mutter, “Yeah, I’m just a fool.”
I whirled around. “What?”
“Nothing. Keep going.” His hand rested at my back, hurrying my pace. Larger boulders crashed from the ceiling as the walls shook. We sprinted the remaining distance to the end of the tunnel, dodging the falling stones.
A small dot of light up ahead marked the beach. “Run!” Starke shouted. I put on a burst of speed as fissures appeared at our feet, running all the way to the surface.
As we neared the exit, Starke dropped the lantern and used both his hands to shove me, sending me flying through the opening. A shower of rocks rained down my back.
“Starke?” I called out. The entrance had completely caved in. Panic crawled up my throat, a thick, viscous emotion I hadn’t felt in as long as I could remember. “Starke!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a hand emerging from the rocks. I scrambled to him, shoving away the stones until I could grip his arm and haul him out.
“At least we didn’t get caught by patrol,” I said, panting. The glare he shot me would’ve been sobering if I wasn’t so relieved.
The deafening crack of cannon fire split the air, and both our heads jerked to the water.
I spoke too soon.
My eyes widened. Offshore, a sleek, black ship with the Twin Tides insignia on the sails aimed at Starke’s ship, the White Moonstone.
Smoke rose from its side as water sloshed against the hull of both vessels.
Another cannon blasted from the patrol ship—a warning shot that barely missed our starboard.
My gaze darted to the little dinghy we’d pulled onto the banks of the island. Three men in uniform examined it, until one looked up at the sound of Starke and me.
“Hey, you there! Stop!” the guard shouted, putting a hand on his sword handle.
Starke heaved out a sigh. “How do you plan to get out of this one, V?”