Mira #2
But worry claws at me. What are they doing to Kai? To my crew? I can’t leave them. A captain never abandons their ship.
I climb down the ladder again, boots hitting the flooded main deck with a splash. The rain has turned the dock into a shallow sea, waves crashing up and over the sides, water rising past my ankles. “Show yourselves!” I shout into the storm, my voice cutting through the thunder.
And they do. About twenty of them emerge from the dark, towering silhouettes rising from the depths, their faces flickering in the eerie glow of a single lantern lit by bioluminescence, casting faint blue-green light on each of them.
Half-men, half-sea monsters. Kappas. Tentacles slick with seawater curl from their bodies, their eyes gleaming like sunken treasure.
They surround me in a slow, tightening circle.
Each one is at least a foot or two taller than me.
I glance down. Scattered across the deck are bodies, some still twitching, some still bleeding, but others… headless. Beheaded kappas. Their heads roll along the planks like grotesque marbles. My heart slams against my ribs.
Kai has already been down here. He moves like a shadow in the dark, silent, brutal, brilliant, and deadly. I know his work when I see it. I stand tall, teeth bared. “Where is my crew?” I shout again as the waves surge around us.
What looks like their captain steps between them, forcing the others to part like a tide breaking around a rock.
He’s vile, part sea urchin, part nightmare, stitched together from the souls of unfortunate sea creatures.
His aura oozes rot. His only eye gleams with malice.
“A deal was broken,” he says, voice like oil sliding over broken shells. “I’m here to collect.”
Before I can move, Kai is suddenly there.
He steps out of the shadows like he’s been summoned by the storm itself, planting himself between us.
His body towers in front of mine, one hand braced against my thigh to nudge me back, shielding me.
I can feel the heat of him, grounding me even in the freezing rain. His presence alone is a weapon.
“Varn,” Kai says, voice low and sharp.
“Pirate Lord, you spoke of our deal. Now you must pay," the creature's voice calls out, his voice like gravel. Kai moves closer to him, maintaining strong eye contact with the creature.
“I never agreed to that part,” Kai continues, stepping even closer.
“I only agreed to help you get your damn wish, in exchange for information. That’s it.
No more. And if you think I’ll stand by while you slaughter my crew”—his voice drops into a lethal growl—“you’re mistaken.
Get the fuck off my ship, or I’ll cut every last one of you down. One by one.”
The captain freezes. For a moment, he just stares at Kai. “Interesting,” he rasps, his voice curling with disdain. “You think you have more strength, more power, than me, Pirate Lord?” He spits the title like a curse and begins to pace, his heavy boots dragging through the water flooding the deck.
Kai doesn’t flinch. “I am a lord for a reason,” he says coolly, with a small smirk.
The captain halts, head snapping toward Kai. “You think your title means anything when you're standing in front of me?”
Kai steps forward, closing the space between them with purpose.
“I think it does,” he replies, “when I slaughtered something far bigger than you to earn it.” The confidence rolling off him is unshakable.
His words hit like cannon fire, echoing in the charged silence that follows.
The captain says nothing. Then Kai adds, sharp as a blade, “Now what the fuck do you want?”
“I want what you want, boy,” the captain says, his voice slick with menace. “I want to find the fountain. But I can’t be making alliances with untrustworthy pirates, now can I?”
I glance at Kai. I can feel the slow, steady rhythm of his heartbeat, calm, controlled.
None of this rattles him. He thrives in the shadows of conflict.
He already knows his next move. “And when,” Kai says smoothly, “did I ever give you the impression I was untrustworthy? We’re still hunting for pieces of the map, are we not?
” The captain groans, half in agreement, half in irritation.
“The one part of our deal that’s lacking is yours,” Kai continues.
“I haven’t gotten a single scrap of information from you since I boarded your ship. ”
Varn doesn’t flinch. “I’ve brought more instructions,” he replies coolly. “They come at a cost.” The captain’s eye gleams.
But Kai steps closer, lifting a hand. “No, Varn. My price was your wish. That’s all you get.
If you want more”—he steps back, placing himself between me and the creature again—“then you’ll have to find the fountain on your own.
” Varn makes a bloodcurdling groan, throwing his clawed arm against the wood of The Leviathan.
“You drive a hard bargain, Pirate Lord,” Varn drawls, voice thick with mockery. “But I know where the fountain is. Reaching it, however, is your own cursed endeavor. One I can’t help with.” He pauses, his head tilting ever so slightly toward me. “But she might.”
Kai turns instantly, his eyes sweeping over me, confirming I’m still breathing. Still standing. Still his. I meet his gaze and give a small nod, stepping forward. “You won’t dare hurt me or this crew,” I say, voice steady. “You know what we’re worth to the ocean. The deal stays the same.”
Varn turns, his dead-black eye, the one that wasn't formed from a human, locking on mine. “I never made a deal with you, girl,” he spits, his saliva landing at my feet like poison.
Before I can react, Kai steps between us. “If you made a deal with me,” he growls, “you made one with her.”
Varn begins to pace again, boots dragging through rainwater pooling across the deck. The storm begins to settle, rain easing to a mist, the sea’s tantrum quieting like it, too, is listening. My blood simmers.
“If you have any new information you would like to share, I suggest you do it now,” Kai says.
Varn’s pacing slows, his shadow rippling against the faint lantern glow as he turns to face Kai.
“That scar of yours,” he says, voice low.
“She’s quite nasty, isn’t it?” His gaze drifts to Kai’s arm.
“There’s a reason so few survive a siren’s attack.
They don’t just wound—they claim. What’s inside you now isn’t healing, it’s remembering.
Spreading slowly, patiently, until she takes back what’s hers. ”
I’m lost for words. Kai's scar is killing him. Kai doesn’t speak, he just stands there, shoulders held high.
“Seems like you have a reason to get to that fountain now, don’t ya?” Varn laughs, a wretched sound. “The only way you're going to live is to wish for your health back. There is no cure for a siren’s touch, boy. You’re as good as dead.”
I glance at Kai’s hand gripping his sword. The black veins have reached his fingers, crawling across his skin like living ink. This journey just became a hell of a lot more important.
Kai’s voice cuts through the stillness. “We don’t have time for this, Varn.
Make up your mind. If you came to remind me we struck a deal, save your breath.
I never forgot. I’ll get you your wish. You have my word.
” Kai steps closer now, voice low, lethal.
“But if you lay a hand on Mira, I’ll gut you and pray you grow back more twisted than you already are. ”