My dreams were taunting me, telling me that any moment, Vidar could be taken from me, and I was feeling powerless. I clawed at the wooden planks as the men joined the fight, pulling my body across the rough flooring.
“No,” was all I could say, over and over as I begged Lune not to let anything happen to Vidar. Or Meridan. Or any of them, for that matter.
“Cap’n!” a voice called out from the water.
I looked up to see another boat rowing swiftly toward the docks and in it stood Gus, waving his hands in a desperate attempt to get our attention. Boil and James were with him and both stood, dropping the oars to lift two flintlock rifles in the direction of the fight.
It was a mess. I could barely focus as my blood soaked the grooves of the wooden dock beneath me. I needed the water, but the water was unsafe.
Everywhere was unsafe.
“Dahlia!” a voice said. I let out a sigh of relief when Meridan crouched beside me, Lady Mary in one hand covered in blood. “Can you change?”
I shook my head, rolling onto my back, my vision wavering.
Behind her, another xhoth burst from the water like an orca toward seals on the beach, bearing his long, razor teeth as he reached for her. She scurried back, her body landing across mine as the beast swiped its long talons at her legs.
I saw the worst outcome play across my mind. I saw everyone dying. I saw myself being dragged to the depths, everyone I loved ripped to pieces. I saw their guts strewn across the ground. Their stilled hearts buried in the mud. Tears stung my eyes at the hefty sense of doom that had not yet come to pass.
Somehow, in the chaos, I saw her. Lyla. She was standing in the shadows at the edge of the trees, her garments covered in her own blood. She was staring at me, her head cocked to one side as Meridan shielded me from the attacking xhoth. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. I couldn’t tell if she was angry. Bitter. Hateful. Amused.
She was just… staring.
Suddenly, Vidar was by my side again. Meridan leapt to her feet as both David and Mullins closed in on the remaining xhoth, driving their blades into his back. The high-pitched scream thatcame from his mouth shook me to my core as Vidar once again pulled me into his arms and began carrying me toward the boats.
“Lyla,” I forced through my lips.
There was so much more that I wantedto say, but I couldn’t.
Foolish. You are foolish, love-drunk mortal
For letting affection blind you.
~ Nalah Brown
I could hardly tell one person from the other. We were all covered in mud, blood, or soot. All a little crazed. Tired.
We fought our way toward the water, making a small space through which we could run to the boats. I leapt to the nearest one and released Dahlia as I reached for an oar.
“Come on!” Mullins barked, waving his hands at David and Meridan.
They jumped into the second boat with Gus and we began heading out toward the Weaver, but we all knew the battle wasn’t over. We were more vulnerable in small boats on the water than we were on land. Those without an oar guarded the sides, their blades and pistols drawn.
“Lyla,” Dahlia forced, her voice strained and broken.
Suddenly, something slammed against the underbelly of the boat, jostling us to the side.
“Row!” I shouted, putting every ounce of my strength into getting us back to the ship alive.
“Row!” Gus mimicked from the adjacent boat.
He fired into the water with a musket and fins whipped up with a violent splash in retaliation.
And that was when they began to leap. Bodies, long, lean, and gray in color, slithered up from the water like bounding eels, reaching and clawing at anyone they could touch. Blades and guns were swinging. The men ducked low as we continued to push out toward the ship. Blood rained down on us as those who were capable continued swinging their swords.
The alarm bells began to ring on the Weaver and men crowded the railing with their weapons drawn. Harpoons whistled past us, too close for comfort, and pierced the water near the boat. Not far from my ship, I could see another vessel that hadn’t been there before, its vivid figurehead reflecting moonlight off its gold finish, and from it, muzzle flashes peppered the air.
They were firing into the water, trying to cover our retreat.
