The sound of faint singing disturbs my thoughts. It sounds like a thousand voices rising all at once. Shrill. Circling over a single word.
I turn in the direction of the ominous noise. A pack of dolphins armored with carved, wooden helmets are a blur in the distance. There are sirens holding on to their dorsal fins with one hand and wielding spears made of sharpened wood in the other. The weapons seem to glow faintly, cutting through the dark sea like shooting stars. A handful of the sirens are adorned with armor made of the same pale wood—a strange choice for protection.
Especially when I see what they are racing toward.
In the distance, barely visible through the night and haze of the rusty murk that clouds these seas is a silhouette of a massive beast. It drifts up from beyond the distant barrier of coral, wood, and shells, as if it is crawling through the thick murk that hovers beyond that barrier, pulling itself through, one tentacle after another. Trying to break into our world. My stomach churns with nausea brought on by panic. It is the same beast that came for my ship…
Coming for me once more.
I look back to the sirens. At the front is a familiar turquoise tail. Ilryth leads the charge, glowing spear in hand.
The song reaches its crescendo as they fan out, releasing their dolphins and launching an attack. The animals and sirens swim down and around the writhing tentacles. They take blows, spiraling through the water. I swim to the edge of my tether, leaning against the whale bones.
What he told me was true…he really didn’t send the beast after my crew. They’re as much his enemy as mine.
The voices continue to rise in volume. I don’t hear the sounds with my ears, but in my soul. The staffs the warriors carry glow brighter, as though they are banishing an evil spirit.
I find myself cheering for them, even though my throat is too tight for me to swallow. I want to help. I don’t care if these are the sirens who took me. All I see is a fight against the monstrosity that killed my crew. I want vengeance. I want something todoother than sit on the sidelines, trapped. I’m not made for stillness. For confinement.
The sirens pitch downward, chasing the monster and disappearing into the reddish haze on the other side of the drop-off.
The song fades and the sea grows still. I continue to stare, waiting for them to return. Scanning the estate, I search for more warriors. Other sirens who could help them. But none emerge.
I wait for the warriors to return. But they don’t. The minutes pass by, the moon’s progression telling me that time has crept into hours.
They’re still not back.
If Ilryth dies, am I free? Can I leave this place? Or will I disappear? I stare at the markings on my forearms. They’re still as sharp as ever. Even the old lines Ilryth gave me years ago…he must be all right. I don’t know why, but I feel like I would know if he died.
Finally, a silhouette crests the hazy horizon, now turned a deep red in the dawn filtering through the water. I don’t know if it’s from the same reddish haze, worse than it has been since my arrival, or from blood.
I squint and it doesn’t take long for me to realize the figure is Ilryth. Every beat of his tail seems weaker than the last. His shoulders slump. He does little more than drift.
Leaning farther past the whale bones, I strain against my invisible tethers as all his movements cease. Ilryth’s arms are limp, head hung. Waiting is agony to see if he’ll move again.
“Lord Ilryth?” I think, imagining my voice resonating in his head alone.
He still doesn’t move. My heart begins to race. He’s been too still for too long. Something’s seriously wrong. How could it not be? I saw the monstrosity…
“Lord Ilryth?” I think, louder. I don’t care who might hear. In fact, let them all hear. Maybe it’ll wake someone else and I won’t have to feel like his life has suddenly become my responsibility.
Why is no one else awake? Why weren’t they all helping him?
Still no movement. No change. He’s as still as death.
“Someone help him!” I shout with my mind. “Duke Ilryth needs help!”
There’s no movement, from the estate or from the duke, as a cold dawn breaks across the sea.
CHAPTER7
There’san instinct that was awoken in me from the first time I stepped on a boat as captain: no man or woman would ever be left behind.
Not on my watch.
None would be forsaken, abandoned, spurned, dismissed, or disregarded. Every soul is worth diving into the choppiest of seas to save. No matter how grim a situation is on the surface, if there’s even a glimmer of hope, if there’s breath in me, I’ll be the hand that reaches out.
Thatinstinct is stronger than any animosity I feel toward this siren. Compounded further by the feelings of uselessness that I steeped in all night, watching. Uselessness amplifying in me.
