Chapter 31 #2
I shifted, and the tail moved with me, powerful yet fluid, as though it had always been mine. The fin flared wide, translucent and veined with silver, delicate as silk but thrumming with strength. For a heartbeat I couldn’t breathe. Not from the water in my lungs, but from the sheer wonder of it.
My body was no longer foreign. No longer broken. It felt… right.
I ripped off the remainder of my pants with sharpened claws.
Scales shimmered over my hips, ending just before my navel.
My breasts were uncovered, but fine scales traced across them like a glittering veil, offering only the illusion of modesty.
Every grain of sand was suddenly distinct as if the sea itself had been carved from crystal.
I could see farther than I ever had, shadows no longer hiding but gleaming with secret life.
The water was no longer silent… It sang.
I heard the scrape of shells against stone, the deep thrumming call of something vast and ancient in the depths, even the faintest hiss of bubbles escaping my own lips.
Every note layered into a melody sharper and more alive than air had ever carried.
The current caressed my skin like a thousand fingertips.
Something broke the surface above me with a violent splash. The Commander.
He plunged through the water like a stone, his sword still strapped to him. He swam frantically towards me. Eyes wild. The shadows that always moved with him bled away, thinning into the dark like ink bleeding away in water. Without them, he looked less dangerous, almost Mortal.
Panic seized my chest. No. The word tore through me without sound.
The sea’s curse would kill him. He was sinking fast, his dark hair streaming behind him.
The sea wanted him. It wanted everything.
I pushed towards him, the current slamming against me as though it meant to drag us apart.
“No!” I screamed, bubbles shredding the word.
My arms burned as I forced my body after him, my new tail slicing through the water with desperate power.
The lines of his face softened, his mouth parted.
The sight hit something deep and unfamiliar inside me.
Fear, grief, maybe something older than either.
I couldn’t let the sea have him. I didn’t know why.
Only that it would break me if I did. I wrapped both arms around his waist and held on. His weight nearly tore me backward.
“Please,” I begged, though he couldn’t hear me.
The sea surged, angrily. The pull of it tried to wrench him away, to tear him back into the depths. I pressed my face against his chest and thrashed my tail, every stroke a fight. My body screamed, muscles trembling with the strain, but I would not let go. Couldn’t.
The water around us brightened as I swam towards the surface, and the rays of golden light mocked my efforts. One last push and my head broke through the waves.
I gasped, hauling him with me. His body was heavy, dead weight in my arms, but I clung to him.
“No,” I whispered against his jaw, salt lingering on my lips.
“You don’t get to die here.” For a heartbeat, the waves stilled.
I pushed him up on one of the large rocks, pulling myself up next to him with shaky arms. His head lolled to the side.
I gripped his shoulders and shook him. “Come on!” I begged, my voice cracking with an emotion I refused to name.
I pulled a knife from his belt, slicing a deep gash across my wrist.
Gripping his face with one hand, I shoved the cut against his mouth.
For a moment there was nothing. Just the frantic beat of my heart. The pull in my chest as though my heart was about to break and the dull crash of the waves.
Then he coughed. A ragged, broken sound.
The air rushed out of me in relief so sharp it almost hurt.
Water spilled from his mouth, and when it finally cleared, I pressed my wrist back to his mouth.
His throat moved with every swallow, my blood pouring into his mouth.
His eyes sprung open, endless darkness staring back at me.
He sat up, blood smearing across his mouth and chin as he shoved my arm away.
“Why did you do that!” I yelled at him, “You know the waters are cursed—”
“You were in pain!” he shouted, his hands locking around my shoulders like restraints. “I felt your pain and nothing else fucking mattered.” His eyes bored into me, holding me captive and threatening to devour me.
Darkness rose around us, tearing through me in a familiar, terrifying embrace as it tore me apart.
Everything pitched into darkness for a moment until we burst into existence on the cliff that was above us.
My scales prickled against the grass uncomfortably.
That was the only warning I got before blinding pain gripped me.
Crack. Crack. Crack. The noise was more sickening outside of the water.
A scream tore through me with each snap of my bones.
Warm arms embraced me, holding me through each wave of pain.
Just as I thought the pain was unescapable, it finally ebbed away.
The only thing holding me together was his arms holding my now naked, trembling body.
“You absorbed the Relic, didn’t you?” the Commander murmured, running hands through my hair. He looked at me with fascination, but his lack of shock unsettled me.
“Yes,” I whispered into the quiet peace between us.
His arms tightened around me. “Hold on to me.”
His shadows tore through me again. My stomach dropped as I pitched into the darkness, blinking a moment later against the dull light of the room at the inn.