And then I remembered how many adventures were ahead of me, how many fine nights drinking and singing with my crew in Starfall’s many fine establishments. And I remembered the blue eyes of the finest woman I’d ever beheld, pleading with me to make a different choice.
What a colossal fool I’d been. I could not take back what I’d done. But there was something I could still do for her.
I couldfightfor her.
Swinging one leg, I kicked at the revenant and connected with her knee. Though it buckled, the Bride did not release her grasp—so I returned the favor. Grabbing onto the scraggly strandsthat remained of her hair, I held tight, yanking her head back and to the side until the bones gave a satisfying snap.
The creature collapsed into the shallows of the pool.
Before I could even catch my breath, she was rising again, her eyes glowing with equal parts cold power and hatred for me.
What she did not see was Sofie doing the same behind her.
I watched as Sofie raised a trembling hand, and waited, waited, until the last possible second. Light bloomed in Sofie’s palm, then shot towards me, twisting until it became white-hot fire.
I threw myself down into the pool at the last possible moment, the ends of my beard hissing as I hit the water. Fire engulfed the cave, filling it, heating the water around me until it was almost unbearable and spots danced over my vision.
Then, at last, it sputtered out.
Sopping wet and gasping, I raised myself from the water, a broad grin already on my face as I beheld the charred remains of the vengeful Bride and the powerful woman left standing.
The cave smelled abominable—the worst thing I’d ever breathed in. But we were both still here. Both still alive.
Both with so many adventures ahead of us. Ones we could share together.
Sofie had done it. She’d broken the curse!
Though her dress was soaked with dark blood, Sofie remained on her feet, hand still extended, panting. As she lowered her arm at last, a shadow of pain flitted across her eyes.
I jumped over the ash pile that the creature had become and was at Sofie’s side in a moment, and that was none too soon. I arrived just in time to catch her.
Sofie was heavy in my arms, peering up at me through her red eyelashes as her lids half-closed. “Thatwas no spirit,“ she whispered. “That was adraugr. And any northern islander worth her salt knows what to do with adraugr.”
“What?” I asked, the grin refusing to leave my face as I beheld my remarkable bride.
“Burn them.”
I could not help but laugh, giddy at finally being free. “You’ll need stitches.”
Sofie snorted. “I healed the wound enough. Turns out I’m not half bad at healing myself. But I’ve lost a great deal of blood. I feel…tired.”
Lifting her a touch higher, I rested my forehead against hers. “Rest now, dear Sofie. You did well.”
Her eyes closed.
I hoisted her into my arms, turning us both back toward the pool and the treasure that was finally mine.
“Do you still think so?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.
As my eyes found the charred back wall of the cave, horror, then a wave of heat as if she used her magic again, washed over me.
Broken shards of stone and molten gold, still white hot, were all that remained of the chest. The gold had spread out into a pool, seeping into cracks in the floor and out the back of the cavern.
“No!”
In agony, I set Sofie down against the cave wall as gently as I could, then splashed through the pool just as the last of the molten metal disappeared into the earth. Steam and smoke still rose from the remains, acrid and toxic. I stood there anyway, hands hovering, as if I could put the shards of the enchanted astrolabe back together.
The Queen of the Sea was gone forever. I would never be Goldenbeard, King of the Pirates. I would never best Blackbeard.
