Chapter 23
HAZEL
Iworked with Cordelia throughout the next week or so, testing my gills in the washroom pool until she was confident I would be able to use them in the open water.
On the last day, she took me out in the open water for a swim above the city, and an immense sense of pride bloomed in my chest when she congratulated me upon our return to my chambers.
I no longer needed Draya’s air pockets to breathe.
Instead, I was able to use the vitality within the water to keep myself alive.
Draya and another warrior met me the following morning, or at least what I assumed was morning. It was still quite difficult for me to measure time in my chambers.
“Hazel,” Draya began. “This is Maki, he’s a warrior, just like me. You’ll be travelling with him today. We’re set to leave in about an hour.”
Maki was in his human form, like Draya, but that was where the similarities between the two men ended.
Draya was olive-toned beauty shrouded in shadows, while Maki had paler skin covering his tall, lean body.
Tousled blonde strands swept over his forehead, and a sparkle glinted in his bright blue eyes as he dipped his head with a grin.
“Hello, Hazel,” he said. “This ought to be quite the adventure.”
“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” I said, keeping my voice steady. Maki was a handsome man, and I was flattered by the flicker of interest in his gaze.
Draya produced a harness of sorts from behind his back, gesturing for me to turn around. I hadn’t changed from the linen blouse and trousers I’d worn to sleep in, but I supposed it wouldn’t matter since I’d be in the water again shortly.
The soft, leathery material caressed my arms and shoulders, and Draya reached his muscular arms around my torso to fasten it.
For the first time since I’d set foot in this underwater volcano, I felt warm.
My cheeks flushed as his breath coasted over my neck, and I tried to focus on his fingers fastening the belt at my waist.
“This marks you as one of us,” he whispered in my ear, his hand lingering on my waist for a few seconds too long before he pulled away.
If I had to be in this cramped room with these two offensively attractive men for much longer, I was afraid I might combust.
To my relief, we soon slipped out of my chambers and down to a room in the outer walls of the city. We regrouped with the rest of the Talassi warriors going on this mission, and within the hour we’d set out into the open ocean.
My magic had awoken enough that my hands and feet could shift with ease, and my skin had grown much more adjusted to the saltwater.
I no longer felt like a drowning human at these depths.
Instead, I was something between a sea-dweller and a waterlogged animal.
I could float in the water and breathe, but I was far too slow and clumsy to keep up with a team of warriors on my own.
Maki swam in front of me and strapped my harness to his, then had me wrap my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist. His tail flicked back and forth beneath us, and a thrill shot through my body as I anticipated what came next.
I was excited for the first time in what felt like years. I had no idea what to expect on the journey ahead, but I didn’t care. For once, I felt alive.
“Hold on, love,” Maki said, and within seconds we were off.
The current brushed against my cheeks and limbs, and I couldn’t help but stare at the open sea around us.
Occasionally we’d pass a school of fish or a reef, but most of what I could see before me was endless dark blue.
It was terrifying and comforting at the same time, and I wondered if this sense of belonging was why I felt such a call to surrender to the ocean’s depths.
“How are you doing, love?” Maki asked, tightening his grip around my knees.
“Wonderful,” I said, still in awe of the ocean before us.
“If you feel you need air, let me know,” he said, and I shook my head.
“Why were you assigned to me?” I asked, leaning closer to his back.
“I hear you have storm magic, is that right?”
“So they say,” I replied, irritated that Cordelia had been spilling my secrets, but knowing they weren’t really secrets anymore.
“I do, too,” he said, and I was suddenly much more curious about the Talassi beneath me.
“Oh,” I whispered. “How did you figure that out?”
“Well, I was born,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m full-blooded Talassi, and we all have a set of powers pertaining to water.
Some of us are tide-weavers, like Draya.
He can manipulate and bend any form of water to his will, making it move and heat and cool in whatever way he chooses.
Some are more gifted with temperature specifically, and they can create ice or boil water in mere seconds.
But you and I have storm magic, where we may call upon the water in the sky. ”
“Fascinating,” I said, taking a moment to process.
“If I’m being honest, acknowledging my magic terrifies me.
For most of my life, my father thought I was some type of witch.
He told me it had stormed relentlessly since the day I was born, and I always thought it was some sort of metaphorical insult.
Now, I’m learning I was partially responsible for the storms.”
“Your father sounds like an idiot,” Maki said, and I felt his claws pulse against the tender flesh on my legs.
“Who is The Nayte Brigand,” I asked, changing the subject.
“Depraved things,” he said with a chuckle. “They’re a… band of phantasmic pirates, for lack of a better word, but they’re not the typical thieves humans would imagine when they hear the term.”
“Ominous,” I said, grinning.
“The High Captain is a man named Jogia. He guides their fleet of three ships, known as The Nayte Brigand, appearing when called upon and disappearing without a trace when the mission is done. No one knows where he and the fleet came from, or how long they’ve been roaming these waters, and I certainly would never want to cross them. ”
“Still ominous, Maki,” I teased.
“There are spirits and creatures roaming the deep that you couldn’t dream up within your wildest nightmares, love,” he said, shaking his head.
“Captain Jogia is one of them. Legend says that he and his fleet traverse between this realm and another, and we’re warned from childhood of his affinity for souls lost at sea. ”
“What does that mean?” I asked, wary of the story but still confused.
“He searches the waters for souls of those who meet their demise in the deep, then bargains with them so that they may have a chance at a better life. But his bargains come at a price. You sell your soul to him for a period of years as part of his crew, but he feeds on your essence for the entirety of your servitude.”
“Oh,” I said, now understanding that this man was a lunatic. How in the world had I ended up in the insane asylum when there were people like him roaming the seas? “He sounds mad.”
“Oh, he is,” Maki chuckled. “But he’s a great ally to the Talassi. In situations like these, we’re in need of someone like him.”
We swam in silence, the formation of our group making a diamond shape as we cut through the water. Maki and I were stationed in the back, and before long I noticed some larger, more abstract shapes appearing beside us.
“That’s the Naytes,” Maki said, his voice nearly a whisper. As they moved closer, I noticed the outlines of decaying wooden ships, almost translucent in the water as if they were appearing from another realm, flickering in and out of reality.
Apparitions of the crew were scattered across the decks, and many were missing limbs or chunks of skin and flesh. These people toed the line between death and life, though from the looks of it they were far closer to the former.
I caught the eye of one, who looked suspiciously similar to the captain who’d thrown me off my father’s ship. His eyes widened for a second when our gazes met, and he opened his mouth as if to yell something across the current.
Except he couldn’t, because he no longer had a tongue.
“That man has no tongue,” I whispered, tightening my grip around Maki’s body.
“Ah yes,” he murmured. “That’s part of Jogia’s conditions.”
“Oh,” I replied, once again at a loss for words as the reality of what lies beneath the surface of the ocean made me far more uncomfortable than I ever would have liked.