“Not you.” I declare, holding River back, and he audibly sighs.
“Asha, you can try and stop me all you want, but I’m not going to change my mind.” His hazel eyes find mine as he halts, and the breeze picks up around us.
“River, this is not your decision to make,” I explain, my hand still gripping the fabric of his shirt like a lifeline.
“It is.” River replies, his trainers disturbing a twig beneath his feet. “I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened toyou.” His voice catches in his throat as he swallows. “Especially if I knew there was something I could’ve done to stop it.” He continues, but my grip stays firm on him. “I have to do this; otherwise it will haunt me till the day I die.” His hand cradles mine briefly before he pulls it off of him. My mouth opens, but I have no words.
He walks through the portal, and I am left in silence.
***
The cold wind rushes through my hair, and stray curls thrash in my eyeline. The smell of salt and seaweed overtakes my senses as I look at Ryder, who is staring out in the distance with Nala and River at his side. It looks like some kind of beach. Waves crash in the distance, and the dark water keeps rolling in and rolling back out again.
“Where are we?” I walk over to him, my shoes crunching on the pebble shore beneath my feet.
“This is as close as I could get us,” Ryder walks the distance between us, “Eel Grave Waters,” he says this with no emotion. “The Hollow is just across there.” He points out just past the treacherous sea, and my stomach drops. I can see Nala and River shuffle uncomfortably in their stance as he says this.
I follow his eyeline and can just about make out a tall mountain across the sea, which must be where Mourn Peak is.
“We’ve got to get across…there?” Nala asks, as the waves crash ferociously and bite at the pebbles.
“I don’t know what you think this is, Ryder, but none of us have tails; we’re not fish. I don’t know how you think any of us are going to make it across there in one piece.” River digs at him, but Ryder doesn’t react.
“I know that, Mr Smart Ass. Why don’t you say some more unhelpful comments?” Ryder rolls his eyes and walks towards the shore. He has a look in his eyes, like he is waiting for something.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Ryder cautions Nala, who is bending close to the rolling water with her arm extended.
“Do what?” She draws her arm back and questions, her fingers clutching a grey pebble.
“Touch the water,” Ryder adds. “A different kind of current runs through it.”
“What do you mean?” I add, intrigue plastering my features.
“Eels roam these waters, making it highly volatile. One touch will zap you, but get stuck in it and you’ll be cooked from the inside out.” He smirks a little while delivering this life-altering information. Nala’s face drains as she scrambles back from the water’s edge, and River and I share a concerning look. “I learned that the hard way.”
“How do you know?” I ask, his knowledge on these elusive areas intrigues me. He shrugs his shoulders.
“My dad used to drop me in places like this when I was younger—part of my training. The more secluded, the better. Every member of the Xoro Army had to do it. Basic survival skills.” He shrugs like it’s nothing, like being abandoned in the wilderness as a child is just another item on a to-do list. “Anyway… I got too close to the water, and you can imagine the rest.”
He says it so casually, like the memory doesn’t even graze him, but the image hits me hard. A kid alone in a place like this, surrounded by danger disguised as silence. I can’t imagine being left to survive something most grown warriors wouldn’t dare face. And the worst part?
He speaks like he never expected anything different.
“But you weren’t a member of the army,” I say, anger resides on my face, but I try to hide it, images of The General making a sickening appearance in my mind.
“I know,” He says through gritted teeth.
“Is anyone gonna tell us how we are supposed to get across this?” River rubs the back of his neck, clearly unsettled like the rest of us.
“Just wait…” Ryder says his eyes still locked on the horizon. My gaze follows his, squinting at where the ocean and the sky meet. Then the ocean begins to morph, thick mist blanketing the water and appearing out of mid-air.
The sea hisses, angry and alive.
Then the fog shifts.
A shape materialises on the water—no,aboveit. A long, narrow vessel glides silently toward the shore, floating inches above the charged surface. Enchantra pulses along its sides, faint and silver, like veins of starlight.
“What is it?” I gaze up at Ryder, whose brow is lifted slightly.
