“Don’t tear down the place, you two,” Morvyn shouted to the couple as we left.
A song thundered through the air. I turned to take one last look at the pair, only to see Calypstra’s eyes still on me. Why was she so enthralled with me? Unease burned in my gut. The others all seemed so eager to make me feel welcome in their own way. But not her.
Hylos flicked a hand, conjuring a wave that crashed against the door, sealing it shut with a resounding slam. Water lapped at my heels.
“They’re ridiculous,” Lumina scoffed.
“Come now, Lumi, green is not your color,” Morvyn chided.
Lumina’s eyes flared as she cut a look at Morvyn.
His words had hit her somewhere low.
“If you wish to keep your head, I’d suggest you shut that hole in it,” Raylik rumbled.
“Lumi, you know I’m just kidding.” Morvyn softened his tone.
“I have some studying to do. Good evening, Elowyn. Enjoy the revelry; it is all we seem to do around here now,” Lumina said. Without a second glance, she strode quickly down the hall and out of sight.
Morvyn’s lips pinched to one side. “It was just a joke.”
“There is always the bitter taste of truth in jest,” Raylik said coolly.
Chapter 13
The polished white marble interior relinquished us into the raw mouth of a cave. Before it, a statue of Nymphaea stood. Below her were waves rising around her coiled tail, and soaring above her with unfurling feathered wings was Aeretha, the Guardian of sky. The pair was locked in a reaching, desperate lover’s embrace, immaculately carved from one breathtaking piece of marble.
It was a masterpiece against the natural chaos and jagged teeth of the cave opening. The two Guardians clung to one another in imagery I’d never seen before.
“They don’t speak of that in terra prayers, do they?” Morvyn remarked as we approached the stunning statue and the dark-amber door behind it.
“Speak of what?” I asked.
“Thescandalouslove affair of Nymphaea and Aeretha. Very sexy andverydramatic. Sirens grow up on the heart-wrenching tale of the two most powerful Guardians in the world who found love during their joint effort to flee the cruel world of Terragos,” Morvyn answered.
We padded nearer to the entrance, the vibration of song in the distance charging the air. The sound had put my senses on edge since the ship crash. I tried to steady my nerves.
Morvyn pointed to Aeretha. “One Guardian created sky,” he said, then pointed to Nymphaea, “and the other created the sea, all to escape Terragos. In his anger, he cursed them to never leave their domains, giving one wings and the other a fish’s tail.”
As we neared, I could better see the immaculate detail: the intricacy of the waves spraying in a rush, the anguish carved into the lovers’ eyes.
Morvyn continued, “Terragos was jealous of their love, so he forced an ocean and a sky to permanently separate the two paramours.”
“I’ve never heard that part before,” I said.
My list of unknowns was growing.
“Of course you haven’t; terras just recite all theboringholy prayers,” Morvyn drawled.
Were there other stories of the Guardians I did not know? More things in this world that were a mystery to me?
We passed the stunning statue and entered the mouth of the cave.
“I did not know you were a theologian,” Raylik said to Morvyn, hard-faced as he opened the large amber glass door, releasing the strange music held behind it.
“Don’t ask me about any of the prayers on sacrifice or restraint; I never listened to those bits,” Morvyn said.
“That’s obvious,” Raylik said as he swung his large, muscled arm and gestured for me to enter.
