Chapter 26 #2
‘That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?’ Melodias came closer, his eyes roaming her face. ‘“I curse this place. May the sea rise to swallow it”. Those were your words, correct?’ He paused. ‘So should I leave this to you, daughter, or would you like my assistance?’
Jenyfer put her back to him, her gaze returning to Kernou.
She hadn’t considered it, not at all, and had all but forgotten about those words, spoken as Ordes rowed her away from this place what felt like a lifetime ago.
But now that she was here, with the ocean at her back and the town spread before her, those words clawed their way to the surface of her, digging and shredding her insides.
The Singing Stone pulsed with magic as blinding rage spun through her with all the force of the fiercest summer storm.
Water swirled around her.
The seabed heaved and shuddered.
Magic poured through her, and she opened her mouth and screamed and screamed and did not stop, not even when the ocean pulled back, exposing the sea floor.
She could feel the power of the water in her blood; she could taste salt and brine and feel the sand on her tongue and between her fingers.
Jenyfer lifted her arms and the water rose, mountain-high, and as she dropped her arms, it surged forward like a weapon thrown from her hands.
And it stopped, suspended in the air.
Jenyfer stumbled back a step as Ordes materialised in front of her, his hands flung out.
She could feel his magic battering against hers, folding around it the way his arms would fold around her.
His face was a mirror of what Jenyfer imagined hers must be.
The pain, the despair, the helplessness that churned through her was reflected in the look he gave her.
She heard her father sigh. ‘Spoilsport.’
‘Let me do this,’ Jenyfer whispered.
‘I will, I promise, but let these people get away first,’ Ordes said.
‘Why should she?’ Melodias challenged.
‘Because they weren’t the ones who hurt you, Jen,’ Ordes said, ignoring Melodias. He moved towards her until he could close his arms around her, the wall of water hovering above their heads, frozen mid-break.
‘You’re not a killer. You’re not cruel and heartless,’ Ordes whispered.
Jenyfer’s shoulders shook. ‘Get them to go then.’
He kissed her, and then he was gone.
‘He’s a real disappointment as a son in law,’ Melodias mumbled. ‘No fun at all.’
Jenyfer said nothing, keeping her gaze locked on Kernou.
‘You know where to find me,’ her father said.
His hand touched her shoulder. Jenyfer jolted, not recalling him ever touching her before.
She met his eyes, so like hers, and held his gaze.
Scaled fingers squeezed her shoulder gently before Melodias turned and disappeared into the ocean, taking his syhren army with him.
Ordes found Denny in his empty shop, sitting behind the counter with a frown as deep as a trench scrawled across his face. When he saw Ordes, he leapt to his feet, mouth falling open.
‘Get everyone out of here,’ Ordes ordered.
‘What?’
‘Arthur gave you the job of looking after these people,’ Ordes said. ‘Jenyfer is going to drown this place. Get everyone to higher ground. There won’t be time to pack anything, understand?’
Denny blinked at him, so Ordes took hold of the man’s arm and dragged him from the shop, spinning him around to face the ocean. The blood drained from Denny’s face. Even his lips were white as he swallowed audibly and a tremble raced through him. Jenyfer’s wave was visible above the rooftops.
‘I can’t… we don’t have time…’ he stuttered.
‘You do,’ Ordes told him as dark clouds swooped in to swallow the sky.
‘Fuck.’ Denny shook his head. ‘I won’t—’
‘Whoever you can find will have to be enough,’ Ordes said regretfully. He could feel the magic he had left on the beach tugging at him and could feel Jenyfer’s magic pushing against his. ‘I can’t hold that water forever.’
‘You… you’re stopping that wave?’ Denny looked at him in awe and fear.
‘I am. She isn’t happy about it though.’ Ordes managed a smile, but it faded at the lingering fear on Denny’s face. ‘Go.’
Denny ran. Ordes closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he was back on the beach with Jenyfer. Her sea-storm eyes flashed. Wind tugged at her hair, sending it flying. Sea-spray brushed Ordes’ face.
‘Are they gone?’ she demanded.
‘Give them time, Jen,’ he said, reaching for her hand.
Her magic swirled beneath her skin, and he could feel it battering against his heart, dripping with utter despair and such rage it scared him.
He couldn’t blame her for any of it. They waited, Ordes’ mind scanning what was left of Kernou.
He could see Denny rushing from cottage to cottage, flinging open doors and telling people to run.
No explanation, only an urgent command. Ordes watched the young man help his mother to rise from her bed and lead her from their cottage.
Quickly, the remaining lambs of Ulrian Tregarthen’s flock made their way into the hills, to the stone circle – where Ordes had been forced to his knees by korrigan magic; where he had first seen the face of the woman who would become the pinnacle of his world.
He could never lose her, not for anything.
‘They’re gone,’ he said, pulling Jenyfer into his arms as he released the hold he had on the wave.
Immediately the giant wall of water broke.
It cascaded over their heads and surged up the beach.
Ordes couldn’t hold them steady and Jenyfer didn’t even try.
They were shoved through the water like broken toys, clinging tight to one another as the ocean pulsed with magic.
Ordes’ skin tingled, like the water was filled with lightning.
His chest was tight, two heartbeats thundering in unison, and even though neither of them needed to worry about drowning, the familiar fear of death pulled at him.
Jenyfer gripped his hand tightly and shot for the surface.
They wound up face down on the sand, and when Ordes lifted his head, Kernou was a wasteland dripping with water and pain.