Killian
Screams of pain and fear filled the air, and I felt nothing but the heat, the chaos.
Then. Panic. It slammed into my chest as though it were my own, and when I turned around, the boat was sinking, its hull swallowed by black water.
She was gone. Bags bobbed in the water while Harlan shouted in the old tongue, ordering the sea monsters to attack.
In seconds, I understood what had happened.
Ilaris the Scholar, in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Harlan, the mortal guardian, ensuring nothing escaped the island, calling monsters to his side because he understood the old language.
Thousands of years and still they guarded, not a surprising turn of events.
Opposition was expected, but I would be ruthless.
Jasper. Take the bags to shore. Wait for me and be ready to run.
I dived as his response resounded in my head.
Hurry.
Yesterday the water had been clear, with no sign of monsters.
Today it was a writhing sea of dark that snuffed out the fire that lived in my blood, smothering the flame degree by degree.
Within those depths, I had nothing but my strength, yet time was against me.
How long would her lungs hold? How much had Harlan guessed and how much had she told him?
The idea that she might be responsible for this treachery irked me.
But that was the way of mortals, was it not?
Treachery and deception. Betrayal for small gains.
Teeth sank into my shoulder, clamping down hard. Making a fist, I punched at the creature, but it didn’t budge. I punched again, found a soft eye, and smashed my fist into it. A high-pitched scream came as the creature released me.
There, retreating into a dark tunnel, was the thing that had taken Ilaris.
Her hair floated above her, eyes closed, arms spread.
Unconscious. Time ticked. I kicked out, wrapping one arm around her.
Counting the moments that passed. I was larger than mortals, could hold my breath much longer, and here in the water was my only opportunity to touch her without fear of burning her skin.
Once we were on shore, my skin exposed to the air where I could catch fire, I wouldn’t be able to help her.
She was heavy in my arms, waterlogged. A tentacle was wrapped around her leg, squeezing.
Bruising. Punching it would do nothing. Then my fingers brushed something solid around Ilaris’s waist. A knife.
Unsheathing it, I struck out, hacking at the tentacle until it shriveled away.
A hissing came, words filling my mind as the creature spoke.
The blood oath is set. It requires vengeance. It requires blood. We demand tribute if you seek truth.
They would harm or help, depending on what I promised them. It was always the case, no one made deals unless it benefited them, their people. Name your terms. I demanded.
Blood for blood. Mortal for immortal. Life for life.
Knife in hand, I swam for the surface, focused on reaching shore without any more mishaps. I had time to weigh the terms of the bargain, but when I woke Numen, he would ask for a decision. After all, the sea was his domain. I didn’t have enough power to force myself through an army. Not yet.
At the surface, I floated Ilaris on her back so she had exposure to the air while I swam us silently past the burning dock, the fire sweeping up the hill.
The people had mobilized, working hard to put out the fire, which crept toward the village.
Seeing the flames licking the sky only made me angrier.
I should have burned the island to the ground before we’d left.
I’d been forced to show my hand, though, and the best plan of action would be to get as far away from the fallout as possible.
A bark pulled my attention to a grove of trees, just off the shore.
Jasper waited, sodden bags at his feet. Magic glimmered around him.
He had grown much bigger now, shifting his shape to full size, as large as a horse.
So he wasn’t too young to shape-shift. Ilaris would have a few surprises when she woke.
I dragged her ashore and thumped her chest until she started coughing, spitting up water.
She breathed, eyes groggy. Her clothes, not meant for swimming, were sodden through and through.
I should have averted my eyes, but all gentlemanliness had left me.
Her sides were bruised, bloated, some of the skin crusted over, healing.
She’d been hurt by something. An accident? It was recent.
But not my concern.
I laid her on Jasper’s back and shouldered the bags, checking to ensure the scroll was there. It was the most important thing.
There, on shore, it all came rushing back, the network of life.
The rise and fall of the hills, mountains, the slope of the land, the pull of gravity.
Underneath the layers of years it felt like an old friend greeting me.
I felt the shift in it, but in the distance pulsed a heartbeat I recognized.
First. The Verdant Maw. It would be the easiest, I expected, then the sky, ice, and finally, water.