Chapter 39
Aeliana’s stomach dropped, the experience uncomfortably familiar. But this time she waited for the grounding sensation she knew would follow once they crossed the barrier and reached Sayhla Island.
Except this time the sensation didn’t come.
Her stomach continued dropping as her body fell with it.
Bright light was replaced by dark skies and flashes of lightning.
Rain lashed against her skin, and screams carried on the wind around her.
They were quickly swallowed up by the thunder of waves and the slap of bodies hitting water before Aeliana was swallowed up by the sea.
Panic engulfed her as she was swept back to the memory of being pushed off Lovers’ Falls by the sprites.
That same loss of direction left her fighting the waves around her for what was up and what was down.
Her hands brushed fabric and hair, arms and legs, making her desperate to drag all her companions to the surface with her, unwilling to repeat her failure with Cyrus. But she couldn’t maintain a grasp on anyone, let alone find her way to the surface.
The thunderous roar of the storm above was muted beneath the water, the quiet foreboding. Her lungs burned and her mind fought the intense need to inhale as she stretched her fingertips, reaching for relief.
When she finally broke the surface and gasped in air, she was quickly overcome by a monstrous wave that rolled her again, leaving her sputtering and coughing as she surfaced a second time.
Rain pummeled her face, making it impossible to catch a full deep breath, and the waves tossed her around until she no longer knew if her companions were still with her or if she’d been lost farther out at sea.
Then again, she had no idea how far out to sea they’d even been to begin with. Sylmar certainly hadn’t considered this possibility with all of his preparations. Did any of them even have the bags they’d packed? Hers had quickly been lost in the storm’s rage.
Lightning flashed, giving her a glimpse of at least six others struggling at the surface.
She begged the lightning to return once more so she could find the rest, so she could know they were safe.
Shouts rang out but were lost on the whistling wind.
Her own cries came back to her, likely unheard by her companions, especially when the thunder returned the lightning’s call.
Velden would be fine, but what about the others?
Her body felt weighted, making her grateful she’d given up the skirts that would have instantly made her sink.
Her short hair still whipped in her face, ripped from her braids, but she felt certain half of what she wiped off her face was seaweed.
The waves dragged her down again, and exhaustion swept through her.
They’d been doomed before they’d ever even found the starbridge.
Her arm latched on to someone else’s, maybe Kendalyhn’s or Iris’, but their slippery grips didn’t hold, and Aeliana felt herself sinking, her energy spent.
She reached for the magic deep within her blood, and her starlock glowed green in the water around her from where it floated out in front of her.
But her magic wasn’t equipped for this environment.
It boosted her energy, but it couldn’t give her air, and eventually her energy would run out.
It would be the same for the other progenies, and if their magic couldn’t outlast the storm, it would be their end. And for those who weren’t progenies? Cyrus’, Holm’s, Riveran’s, and Iris’ faces came to mind, pushing her to fight harder, to survive so she could help them.
As she pushed again for the surface, another hand gripped her wrist. In the dark water she couldn’t see who latched on to her, but this grip was steadier, its webbed surface almost suctioning to her skin.
Velden.
As he pulled her to the surface, she felt a sense of relief, but he couldn’t save all of them. He should be helping those who didn’t have starlocks.
“What are you doing out here?” a voice screeched at her—a female voice that was clearly not Velden’s. “Why didn’t you transform? Do you have some sort of death wish?”
As the lightning flashed, it lit up a face patterned by scales and a neck boasting gills. The Sayhleen’s hair floated wildly around her, more reminiscent of kelp. The moment Aeliana recognized the Sayhleen for what she was, the Sayhleen seemed to recognize what Aeliana was not.
Her eyes widened, and she kicked and swept out her hands, pushing more of the sea between them as she sought space from Aeliana.
“Who are you?” She scanned the water’s surface, which was only slightly calmer than it had been. “Are all of you…human?”
“Half-lights,” Aeliana corrected, still fighting to stay above the waves while also straining to be heard. “Well, and one human.”
The Sayhleen’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t seem to be having the same trouble as Aeliana. Her body buoyed in the waves in an almost gentle, relaxing manner as Aeliana coughed and sputtered.
“Please,” she begged. “We can explain everything, but we can’t swim in a storm like this. Not like you can.”
The Sayhleen’s head whipped around, taking in the struggle of those nearby before nodding. Then she dove below the surface.
And stayed below the surface.
Aeliana’s breaths turned to gasps and near cries as she waited for the woman’s return. Where had she gone? Did she see their vulnerability as a sign to abandon them? Was she looking for those who struggled more than Aeliana?
As she slipped beneath the surface once more, she wasn’t sure anyone else could be struggling as much as her. It was humbling, knowing her starlock could do her no good in this place, and it made her realize how much she’d come to depend on the thing she’d once despised.
The kelp-like hair rose from the water along with two other Sayhleens, the skin around their scales rougher with age lines and their mouths twisted in frowns. Still, they split up, practically flying through the water to gather up her friends.
A smooth hardness brushed against Aeliana, making her yelp, then a dolphin rose beside her, cocking its head as if assessing her intelligence.
“You can ride Eyelee to the shore. Grasp her fin like this.” The Sayhleen demonstrated, then pulled Aeliana’s hand to do the same. “And swing your body over hers.”
Aeliana fumbled to do as the Sayhleen instructed, but the waves pulled her back down.
When she was finally settled, the Sayhleen patted the dolphin, and the dolphin took off in the water, nearly making Aeliana lose her grip.
She tried to look back, to see if the Sayhleen was helping her friends, but the dolphin dove deep, forcing her to hang on tighter and face forward, grabbing air when the dolphin surfaced and leaning her head close against the sea animal each time it dove.
Within moments the darkness beneath her shifted, slowly lightening as the sandy surface of the ocean floor sloped upward toward the beach Aeliana had been desperate to find. The dolphin came to a sudden stop, and Aeliana slid off.
“Um, thank you?” She patted the dolphin the way she’d seen the Sayhleen do, then flinched as the dolphin took off, hopefully to help someone else.
The waves still lapped at her waist, so Aeliana walked farther up the beach, hugging herself as the wind whipped her wet clothes.
From her new vantage point, the storm didn’t look as severe, but she suspected it was still terrifying to those out in the water.
She prayed to the Stars and then, for extra measure, to the Sun, begging for all her friends to be spared, thanking them for the Sayhleen’s willingness to help.
The moonlight revealed little on the wild surface of the waves, but the next flash of lightning showed her five more people being swum to shore, whether by dolphins or Sayhleens she couldn’t tell at first. As Cyrus, Holm, Iris, Riveran, and Kendalyhn were deposited beside her by chittering dolphins, she gave them all wet and exuberant hugs, even Kendalyhn.
Riveran looked the most at ease, bending forward to rub his dolphin’s nose affectionately before sending them off to rescue the rest.
It seemed the Sayhleen had recognized who could withstand the waves a little longer after all.
Kendalyhn pushed Aeliana aside with a glare. “I’m going to kill that idiot for bringing us all over here.”
Aeliana smiled in her relief. “Velden or Sylmar?”
“Maybe both,” Kendalyhn muttered. As she headed up the shore, squeezing water from her blouse, Iris, Holm, and Riveran followed, but Cyrus seemed frozen in shock, his face pale and his body still being buoyed by the waves.
Aeliana tugged on his hands, bringing him farther up the shore to ensure he wouldn’t be pulled out again by a rogue wave.
“It’s all right, Cyrus. You’re fine.”
He nodded, not really looking at her, and she suspected he was back in Lovers’ Falls, drowning all over again. She put her hands on his cheeks and forced him to look at her.
“Take a deep breath. You are surrounded by air. You will not drown.” She emphasized each word like she was speaking to a child, and this time his nod was a bit more sure, his freckles no longer standing out so intensely against his pale skin.
“I won’t drown,” he repeated. Then he seemed to truly see her for the first time. “Did you see me riding the dolphin? I rode a dolphin.”
A laugh burst from her throat, and she hugged him even tighter than she had when he’d first ridden in. “You were an amazing dolphin rider.”
Another flash of lightning revealed the others arriving, this time led by the Sayhleens themselves.
As the dolphins dropped off Sylmar, Lukai, and Gaeren, Aeliana finally breathed easier.
She saw her relief reflected on Gaeren’s face as he came to check her over, but Lukai beat him to her, sweeping Aeliana up in a hug that felt more smothering than comforting.
Velden was suspiciously absent, and while Aeliana wasn’t concerned for his safety, she wondered why he held back. Was his mother’s tail dragging him to the sea’s floor? Or was he using it as an opportunity to put her in her final resting place?
The Sayhleens who had escorted them to safety rose from the water, their fins and tails morphing into legs and feet. Aqua and amethyst scales remained on their skin, and gills still flapped at their necks, as if they had no intention of staying on land for long.
“Why, Nori?” Deep disappointment laced the older male Sayhleen’s voice as he frowned down at the younger one who’d found Aeliana. He made harsh hand motions that brought the woman’s head low in shame.
“I’m so sorry, Father,” she whispered, her own hand motions much more subdued, but clearly communicating far more than they were saying. Her hands paused in hesitation, her gaze taking in all the Vendarans in confusion.
“It’s rude for us to use Water Words in front of guests.” The other female Sayhleen’s voice held a bit more softness. “What did you think you saw?”
“I thought I saw…” Nori tucked her hands behind her back, then stood a little straighter. “I thought I saw Rhoda’s scales.”
The older woman sighed. “You’ve never even met her.”
“But I’ve heard you describe her,” Nori rushed on. “Scales that bright are unusual. But… perhaps it was the storm’s light that confused me. I’m sorry, Mother.” Her head bowed once more.
The woman frowned. “I barely remember her scales. It was more fanciful daydreaming, and one of these days it’s going to get you killed.”
Nori’s chin rose a fraction. “Perhaps it was the sprites calling me up to save these people.”
Before her parents could respond, a final figure rose from the sea, weighed down by the heavy burden he carried in both his arms and heart. A flash of lightning revealed a glimmer of orange and mauve, brilliant scales and full fins.
Both of the older Sayhleens gasped.
“I knew it,” Nori breathed out.
But as Velden drew closer and it became apparent he carried only half the body, all three of the Sayhleens stiffened, and the man snarled.
Chaos ensued as a net shot out from the belt at the man’s waist, encompassing half of the Vendarans, who immediately drew weapons to defend themselves.
Another came from the woman’s, effectively trapping the rest of them with a substance that seemed impervious to their daggers.
When Sylmar’s staff turned molten, singeing the net even as the rain sizzled against it, the older Sayhleen pulled a three-pronged dagger out from his belt, snarling once more.
He held the dagger against Sylmar’s neck. “What have you done to my sister?”