Hattie nodded.“The spirit came to take my offering and swallowed it whole.Suddenly, its entire body changed.It used to be a cute little thing, and now it was morphing into a monster.I barely got away.”
“So the Hilt is…inside the spirit’s stomach?”Briar asked.She withheld a gag and turned to Kieran.“Ugh.That’s gonna be nasty work.Glad it’s your problem.”
“Always appreciate the support, Briar.”Kieran sighed.
“Not inside,” Hattie corrected.She pointed to the center of her forehead.“It’s become something like a horn.If you could pull it out…there’s a chance the spirit might go back to normal.Stop all this pointless death I’ve caused.”
While tears began to shine in Hattie’s eyes, Sebastian nodded.“Pulling the Hilt out sounds easier said than done.We’ll need a way to block the siren-song thing Lila told us about, and a way todefend ourselves from attacks.Perhaps beeswax for earplugs and bait to distract it?”
“We won’t be able to get to it if it lives underwater, though,” Kieran pointed out.“Unless anyone knows a spell to give us gills.”
Kieran looked in Delilah and Briar’s direction, but both shook their heads.His shoulders wilted.Shit.
“I…actually may be able to help with that part,” Hattie said.She rose from her seat.“Hold on.”
She crossed to a wooden workbench tucked into a corner of the room.Random wood and metal pieces were scattered across it, along with some leather strips and tools.She opened a drawer and dug around for a moment before withdrawing a small device.She brought it back to the others and held it out for them to see.It looked a bit like a face mask, with a metal frame that could cover the nose and mouth and a leather lining to help it conform to the wearer’s face.Another leather strip went around the back to secure it in place around the wearer’s head.The front had a few small holes in the front, seemingly to let air in.
“It’s a little different from the toys I usually make,” Hattie explained, turning it over in her hands.“It’s a mask for breathing underwater.If you can attune your magic to it, it’ll transform the water you inhale through the front into air.”
Kieran’s and his friends’ eyebrows all shot up.
“Really?”Briar asked.“Have you tested it?”
“I mean—kind of.”Hattie rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.“I…haven’t been brave enough to try it in the lake.B-butit worked when I stuck my head in the sink!Granted, I only took a few breaths, but…”
“Scientifically speaking,” Sebastian said, mostly to Kieran, “that’s barely more than a hypothesis.”
Kieran opened his mouth to agree, but just then, a loud commotion started outside.It sounded like people screaming, though Kieran hadn’t seen any on their walk to Hattie’s home.As he wondered where the sound might be coming from, thundering splashes echoed from the lake.Instantly, everyone in the cottage jumped to their feet and ran to the windows.
Outside, two boats floated atop roiling waves, bobbing back and forth as a gigantic tail slapped the water beside them.It was scaled and covered in frills.A few men dressed in skintight black swim garments were in the water.They thrashed wildly, trying to get back to their boats.One of them was only inches away from the boat ladder when a clawed hand the size of a car reached up, grabbed him, and yanked him underwater.
“Are those men mad?”Hattie squeaked, wrapping her arms around herself.“What in the world are they doing?”
“They’re not townsfolk?”Keiran asked.
“No—those have to be Elias’s mercenaries,” Sebastian said, voice cold.His eyes narrowed into a glare.“They’re here for the Hilt.”
Kieran’s throat immediately closed.They caught up?Does that mean Elias is here?
“There’s the spirit!”Hattie cried, pointing as the water began to ripple.“Look!”
At that moment, a huge head rose from the depths.The creature reminded Kieran of an otter but had the scaled body of anaquamarine serpent.Huge tangles of algae hung off it.It might have been sort of cute if it weren’t for the eight beady black eyes and the gnashing, serrated teeth.It was impossible to tell how large it was with part of its body submerged, but based on what he’d seen, Kieran assumed it had to be larger than the aeroship.
And there, in the middle of its forehead, was a shining metal horn.
Kieran gasped, pointing.“That’s the Hilt!”
Just then, a tiny aeroship coasted by the spirit’s head.It had a bubble-like glass window that revealed the pilot inside.As she got closer to the creature, the glass split and retracted into the body of the ship.The pilot reached an arm out of the cockpit, one hand on the wheel.Her fingers were inches from the Hilt.
The creature thrashed.Its head slammed into the ship, smashing its buzzing left wing to bits.Smoke burst from the machine as it began to tailspin.The pilot’s scream was loud enough to reverberate across the lake.
The ship crashed into the water, swallowed by the foaming waves.
With a screech, the spirit plunged its head into the lake.Its entire body arched above the waves as it dove, and Kieran saw several turquoise fins flash in the dawn light as it disappeared into the depths.
“Oh, no fucking way,” Briar said quietly.She turned to look at Kieran.“We’re not going out there—right?”
In any other situation, Kieran would have immediately agreed with her.That thing was hungry for blood and wasn’t going to stop until all of Elias’s men were dead.But then again…
