Chapter 6
DRAYA
Leaving Hazel on that dreadful island was far more difficult than I would have liked to admit.
I didn’t know why I bothered with her at all, really, but her story seemed so…
tragic. She’d lived a sheltered life under her father’s rule, only to be sent to live in captivity with anyone else the humans deemed a disgrace to their society.
The entire concept of the Akala Asylum never sat right with me, nor my people.
Unlike humans, we didn’t ostracize those who suffered from deep sadness or wandering thoughts.
Instead, we worked together as a community to provide them with whatever help and support they needed.
The Talassi were not perfect, as no group of sentient beings is, but I believed us to be far more advanced as a society than humans.
Regardless of my conflicting thoughts about the strange woman who was damn near immortal, I needed to get back home. I’d already been gone a day longer than expected, and my Commander would not be happy about it.
I pushed through the water, using my magic to sense the current I needed to follow. Traveling without a passenger who needed to breathe was much easier, as I could use the momentum and energy of the ocean and her tides to speed up my movement.
Relief washed over me as soon as I reached the outskirts of the city.
The Talassian Capital was a dark metropolis built into a massive underwater volcano in what the humans called the Atlantic Ocean.
Our home was tucked away in a much larger string of volcanoes extending off the northeastern coast of the United States, known as the New England Seamounts.
Our volcano was no longer active, yet its structure allowed us to build a thriving city into its tunnels, caverns, and hidden alcoves.
From above, it looked like an undersea mountain.
The surrounding water was a vibrant azure, but the terrain was mostly black and grey sediment, occasionally dusted with coral and kelp.
The city was close enough to the surface that some light reached us, though we mostly used magic and bioluminescent algae inside the caverns and its hollow center.
Talassian cities and outposts blended into the natural habitat of the ocean.
We lived in harmony with the ocean itself, and we protected ourselves and our homes with magic.
While some Talassi had human lineage, full-blooded humans were not permitted within these walls.
We had to protect our sacred habitat, especially with people like Emerson running trade routes above us.
As I approached, I was greeted by the dark, volcanic rock of the cliffs adorned with windows, balconies, passageways, surrounding a grand entrance gate leading into the city.
I stopped at the entrance, straightening the braided harness I wore, indicating my status as a Warrior.
The gate itself was made of black iron panels salvaged from sunken ships, and the spires were accented with sparkling ivory pearls.
To the left was a window to a gatehouse, and I saluted the Talassi soldier inside.
“Greetings, Draya!” He called, and I heard the screech of metal rubbing against stone. Slowly, each panel of the gate separated, and I was greeted by the Talassian Capital waiting inside.
“Thank you, sir,” I replied, my heart warming as I swam through the gate and took in the sights and scents of my home.
I followed the main route through the middle of the city, waving to the other Talassi as I passed.
Homes, shops, and stalls for food adorned both sides of the path, marked by stalagmites made of volcanic rock.
Fish and other sea creatures swam freely in and out of the city, and I felt the brush of a small tentacle as I moved toward my destination.
I turned, grinning when I spotted the octopus.
Octopuses were some of my favorite sea creatures, their intelligence and playful spirits always lifting mine.
This one was particularly cute, its bright red limbs swirling around my arms before floating off into the city.
My first stop was to inform the Queen and my superior of my arrival, then explain why I hadn’t returned with what I’d been tasked to retrieve, somehow weaving in the tale of how I’d found Hazel and returned her to the humans.
Sighing, I hovered over the black stone steps leading to a grand doorway, held up by pillars made of cracked crystalline rocks.
The Queen’s manor was the largest residence in our city, and it was undoubtedly the home of a royal.
Everything inside was spacious and open, and light filtering through the reef above made the cracks in the walls and floor sparkle under the currents.
Her personal guard greeted me at the entrance, and escorted me directly to the throne room.
“Welcome home, Captain Draya,” she drawled, perched upon a massive conch shell with a seat carved into it.
She was a beautiful woman, with deep red hair and emerald green skin, contrasting her light green eyes.
She wore a corset made of shells and beads, and a diadem made of coral-shaped gold sat atop her head.
The throne sat in the center of a raised dais, and beside the Queen floated my superior, Commander Adri. I bowed at the hip, paying my respects, and mentally prepared to be peppered with questions.
“Glad you’re home safe,” Commander Adri began. “Please brief us on your trip.”
“Thank you, Commander,” I started. “Although I regret to inform you that my trip was largely unsuccessful.”
The Queen raised a brow at me, gesturing with her clawed fingers for me to continue.
“I searched the Long Island Sound for any trace of Prince Inaki and his captors, even going so far as to spend a few evenings in my human form in hopes of finding a loose-lipped drunk in one of their smelly taverns. As far as the humans of Long Island, New York are concerned, they don’t seem to know the Talassi exist. Or that their precious spices and cargo are part of a much more sinister operation. ”
“Well,” the Commander said. “It wasn’t unsuccessful. You still learned something, even if it wasn’t what we hoped for.”
“Commander Adri is right,” the Queen echoed. “Thank you for your service, Captain Draya. You are dismissed.”
“There is… something else,” I blurted out. There was a chance I’d regret my next words, but I didn’t feel it was something I should hide from my Queen or my superior. “I ran into a… peculiar creature.”
They looked at each other for a moment before returning their gaze to me, eyes full of questions.
“Explain,” the Queen said.
“I encountered a shipwreck in the Northern Atlantic, which isn’t out of the ordinary. But this time, there was a survivor.”
Both of them straightened, leaning forward in unison.
“In truth, she shouldn’t have survived,” I said slowly, unsure how exactly to explain Hazel.
“I found a woman floating in the water, far deeper than any human should be able to survive, and I assumed she was dead. I had intended to move her corpse out of the open water, but when I reached her body, I noticed glowing streaks in her hair.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t some type of fish or bacteria?” Commander Adri asked.
“I’m sure, Commander,” I replied. “When I reached her, she opened her eyes, and I rushed her to the surface where she coughed up torrents of water and began to breathe again.”
“So you saved her life,” the Queen said dryly. “How kind of you.”
“I don’t understand how she was still alive, Your Highness.”
“Perhaps she had only been underwater for a short time before you reached her,” she replied. I considered it for a moment, trying not to show annoyance that the Queen assumed I hadn’t thought of that already.
“So you saved a human’s life,” Commander Adri interrupted my musing. “Then what?”
“I brought her to the island of Akala. Her family was sending her to the Asylum.”
“You spoke to her?” The Queen asked, her brow furrowing. “Did you reveal yourself?”
“Partially,” I answered, and the Commander shook his head. They had every right to be angry with me. Revealing myself to Hazel was quite foolish. The more humans that knew of the Talassi’s existence, the more danger we were inherently placed in.
“Captain Draya,” the Queen said, her voice laden with disappointment.
“I put her to sleep before leaving her at Akala,” I said quickly. “And… I believe she had magic... Of sorts.”
The room was silent for a moment, their gazes raking over me as I forced myself to continue.
“She was terrified throughout our entire interaction, and I believe her fear conjured a storm,” I said. “And not just a small thunderstorm, a raging cyclone that would have swept us both away if I hadn’t used my voice. My song calmed her down, but I was quite perturbed.”
“Why didn’t you kill her?” Commander Adri asked.
“I suppose I should have,” I said. “But… she’d been tied up and thrown off the boat before it wrecked, and perhaps I’m growing soft, because I couldn’t bring myself to add to the cruelty.
So I sang her to sleep then dropped her on the beaches of Akala, where I knew no one would believe her anyway if she decided to mention the Talassi. ”
“Fascinating,” The Queen started, tapping her claws against the conch shell. “I can’t say I’m particularly happy with your decision, but I don’t believe it warrants punishment.”
“Keep an eye on her, Captain,” the Commander said. “If she truly has magic, I’m curious to know what and who she is.”
“Myself as well,” I agreed.
They dismissed me shortly after, and I thanked the spirits of the sea that the Queen wasn’t furious with me. Although I didn’t tell them she was an Emerson. If I hadn’t omitted that small detail, their response would likely have been much different.
I headed straight for my own home, a humble cottage located on the outskirts of the city.
It had been over two weeks since I’d left, and I was eager to sleep in my own bed of kelp and eat some of my favorite oysters.
But as relieved as I was to be back in my own habitat, I couldn’t shake the curious feeling that wouldn’t let go of a certain pale-haired woman named Hazel.