A line of red granite sphinxes, half-eroded and littered with spots of sea life, appeared on either side of our path, and we slowed. Fish darted around the statues, and seaweed rippled between the creatures’ paws.
Glacies’s shoulders sagged. “We have reached the Red Sea.”
Aarna held up her pearl light, which flickered across an expansive door carved with rows and rows of hieroglyphics and Runes of the Ocean.
“You’re sitting this one out,” Pisceon said, throwing out a muscled arm to block Finn from advancing toward it.
Finn grunted in assent as the other Mer pressed their hands to the door, chanting in the old tongue of the sea. The carvings shimmered, and then the entire structure dissolved into watery aquamarine light.
Aarna and Glacies surged ahead, and we followed them into the blue. The Mer resumed their chant, and the doorway melted into a jumbled mass of algae-covered rocks and rubble.
The Red Sea was a sprawling rainforest. Brain-like structures blossomed in pinks, greens, and various earthy hues. They clustered to form bulbous masses of color where fish swarmed.
Pisceon, still pressing Edward to his chest, rolled his eyes at the Drowned boy’s breathless gasps. Skye and I weren’t much better, tuggingeach other excitedly toward intricate anemones, beautiful starfish, and eels tucked into rock crevices.
“The Red Sea possesses the world’s only climate-resistant corals. Even with the Shadow creeping in, they’ve managed to survive,” Pisceon explained after Edward let out his tenth dramatic gasp. I was drifting slowly above the reef like a snorkeler, delaying the group.
“It is wondrous.” Edward sighed. “I’ve no idea why I spent a hundred years toiling away in the Atlantic.”
Glacies swung to us, exasperated, her pale blonde hair curling in the swell. “We have to pick up the pace.”
We began moving quickly again, the coral becoming a colorful blur as we swam over it. Soon, it thinned and gave way to the open ocean. Occasionally, larger sea life passed us—whales in the distance and dolphins gliding through the depths. Pháos veered off again, vanishing into the blue. No doubt he’d return when he was ready.
I fell back, momentarily marveling at the group swimming before me. My friends.We hadn’t started off that way, but that’s what we’d become somewhere along this journey.
“We’ll set up camp here.” Finn stopped, and the others pulled up abruptly around him. He gestured to a sunken ship half-submerged in drifts of sand. “Okeanós is not far away, but we’ve been traveling for two days straight, and we need rest.”
No one disagreed; we all heard the words that Finn was too proud to say, thatheneeded rest.
Evening was filtering through the water in deeper shades as we alighted beside the boat. My shoulders drooped with exhaustion, after all the magic we had used in the tunnel I was glad to make camp.
“At least I’ll get one more night with you.” Aarna’s face lit up as she took Glacies’s hand and pulled her towards the mottledvessel.
I dragged my eyes over the ship. It had split in half when it hit the ocean floor, and its hull pointed skywards. The rear stern and poop deck had toppled to one side, not far away. Sails hung in tattered strips from the masts, their once-white material ghostly against the aquamarine glow of the water. And there, on the very tip of the largest mast pole in the ship’s middle, I saw it: a small black flag emblazoned with a skull.
“It’s a pirate ship.” I hesitated, as memories of what Teachie and Rackham had done to me came flooding back.
Finn noticed and drifted closer, linking his fingers with mine. “Not all ships are Drowned portals. By the state of this one, it hasn’t been inhabited in a long time.”
“Well then, enough gaping—let’s set up camp.” Pisceon eyed me and Finn, cobalt tail flicking. “And don’t get any ideas just because it’s our last night before we see our families.” He paused, then smirked. “Actually, I take that back. Idolike to watch.”
“You’re sick.” I flipped him an obscene gesture.
Pisceon grinned wickedly, and then, with a flick of his tail, he shot to one of the masts and ripped away a large piece of sail.
“What are you doing?” Skye gasped from where she and Edward stood beside me. She looked over her shoulder like the pirates might return from the dead and reprimand us.
A real possibility down here.
“Making hammocks.” Pisceon grinned. “Come on, I’ll show you...Or you could share mine.”
Skye’s cheeks flushed crimson, but she kicked off from the seafloor, puffs of sand scattering in her wake, to follow Pisceon and gather sheets.
“Drowned boy.” Finn nodded at Edward. “Help the princesses find us a place to sleep, as I presume you know your way around the bowels of a ship.”
Edward straightened proudly. “Did you know the 1960s were considered the golden age of piracy in the Indian Ocean? I rather suspect that’s where this vessel hails from—”
“Save the history lessons for later, please.” Finn held up a webbed hand, but dimples shone in his cheeks from fighting a grin.
