They swayed with the current as a sudden drop in temperature made her shiver, and the birthmark on her back burned as if lit on fire. Sol grimaced at the pain, but when she caught sight of what Nina saw, only a numbing horror spread through her body.
Cas's grip tightened around her as he whispered, “Stay still.”
Her mother hadn’t only told Sol stories of Rimemere and its magic. She also told her stories of the wicked creatures that resulted from it, from the greed and thirst for power the Light Magic Wielders had developed. Upon their discovery of Dark Magic, they had unwittingly invoked darkness into their lands.
The story Irene told best was the one of a lone Fire Wielder who had been so thirsty for power and respect that she opened the gate to the Void itself to get it. And though her wish was granted, the gate remained open, letting the dark pit’s most sinister and bloodthirsty creatures invade Erriadin: the Jinn.
And that was exactly what stared back at Sol through the waves, just as macabre as the illustrations Irene sometimes showed her in a feeble attempt to scare some discipline into her. It didn’t work back then. Instead, it had piqued her curiosity and sharpened her ability to sneak into their book collection to read about them in the middle of the night.
The Jinn had been a strange myth back then.
What floated in the sea before her was the truest physical representation of the Void itself.
Its beady, bulging eyes hovered directly over the water’s surface, completely soulless and utterly black. Instead of hair, it had strands of what looked like yarn sprouting from its waxy, wound-covered scalp. Its skin was pallid and a sickly shade of blue, as if it had never known the comfort of warmth. Beside it, another head emerged from the water, then another.
And another.
“Great,” Cas said.
Before Sol could let out the blood-chilling screech bubbling in her throat, the water beneath them rose, carrying them higher and higher until they were level with the dock. Wordlessly, Cas tossed her onto the paneling of the dock floor, where Nina grabbed her arms in haste.
Sol coughed and shook herself from the woman’s grasp. “What is going on?” she cried, still trying to process the water, the people,the creatures??—
“Shhhh.” Sawyer strode up beside them, her drawn swords reflecting the torches lining the bait houses behind them. “If you talk, they’ll want to talk, too. You don’t want that.”
Nina pulled Sol up gently and gave her a kind enough smile that Sol decided not to protest. “This wasn’t how I wanted this to go, Princess.”
Sol blinked through the mental fog.
Princess?
Nina looked back to the sea, and Sol felt her breath catch as more lifeless, glazed eyes appeared from the water.
“Alix.” Cas still sat on the massive wave as if it had turned solid.
The other man from the Hound stepped forward from behind Sawyer, giving Sol a small nod before waving a series of maneuvers with his hands. Instantly, the ocean responded, funnels of water wrapping around him and carrying him to Cas.
Both men nodded at their companions in some sort of silent understanding before plunging into the Jinn-infested waters below.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Sol said, “This isn’t real.”
Beside her, Sawyer laughed. “Better get used to it.”
Stepping closer to the edge of the dock, the woman rolled her neck and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked out into the ocean. In a smooth motion, she swung her arms open as they burst into an amber blaze all the way down to the edge of her swords. The light illuminated the darkness around where they stood. The Jinn simultaneously turned their attention to her, like pests to a flame.
Cas and Alix landed on ships on opposite sides of the waterway, Alix with water swirling around him and Cas with the curious dark mist hovering at his feet. The ships swayed from the impact.
“I need you to stay with me, Sol,” Nina whispered before tucking Sol behind her. “I know you’re confused, but I need you to trust us right now.”
A shimmer of iridescent light cast the dock in an otherworldly glow, prompting Sol to glance down. Nina’s arms shone the purest green, so bright it was almost blinding. The very planet seemed to respond, the distant trees behind them rustling andstraining as their branches extended past them, braiding into a single, solid limb. It morphed into a bridge, connecting the dock to the two ships the men stood on.
Sawyer jumped onto the makeshift bridge and joined Cas on the ship to the left.
Just when Sol thought her nightmare couldn’t evolve into anything more terrifying, the Jinn emerged from the ocean, slowly ascending into the air, and hovering above the waves. All of their attention was fixed directly on Sol, but the one at the front of the formation snapped its gaze away momentarily to face Sawyer.
“Fire Wielder,” it hissed, its voice strained.
“Yes, ugly?” Sawyer replied, her torso still ablaze as she took a spot next to Cas.
