I don’t speak. If I do, I do not trust what would come out.
Men swarm us, voices overlapping. Hands clap my shoulders and thump my back. Praise rains down, loud and exuberant.
“Crat'ax! Your spear went right through it!”
“Truly a blessed spearsman!”
“The Deep favored your strike and your weapon!”
“Now let the men complain that your spear takes up too much of the tribe’s steel! Now they see why!”
I grin, satisfied that I survived. But Callie’s kiss is what really makes me elated.
Across the broken platform, Sprub’ex steps forward. His gaze flicks from the retreating waters to Callie and lingers there.
“Strange,” he says slowly. “That such a creature would attack us now. It has never come so close before. It’s as if there’s something new here. Something the Deep doesn’t like.”
Silence ripples outward. Eyes turn. Toward me. Toward her.
I feel the shift immediately. Curiosity is sharpening into suspicion.
I step closer to Callie without thinking, placing myself between her and the circle of men.
“The Deep tests us,” I say evenly. “It always has.”
Sprub’ex’s mouth twists. “Or it warns us.”
7
- Callie-
The air smells different after the attack. Sharp and metallic, like crushed wood and fear. Beneath it is the familiar tang of the sea, but even that feels harsher now, scraped raw by what just rose out of the Deep. The village creaks and groans under our feet, like a living thing complaining about its wounds.
The men of the tribe have gathered around us. The boys look at Crat'ax with shining eyes, while most of the men seem relieved and elated that they survived the monster attack.
Some men are climbing up from the sea, drenched after they were thrown in as their huts were smashed. Strong hands help them up to the platform.
I’m pretty happy myself. Shaken and still feeling numb, but also awestruck by what Crat'ax did. He jumped onto the body of that gigantic monster of a crab with its dozen claws the size of cars, then came to my rescue when it tried to snap me in half.
He totally risked his life, not just for the village, but for me. Nobody’s ever done that before.
I simply had to kiss him. It was pure relief, of course. And maybe something else that I’m not going to think too much about right now. It felt good, too.
“This was a test, not a warning,” Crat'ax says with authority. “The Deep is testing whether we are worthy of having a woman among us. For we must be able to protect her against all the Deep can send at us. Even this. Even thekrai.”
A murmur of agreement goes through the crowd.
“Crat'ax saved us all!” someone yells.
“It was a test,” the chief agrees, having seen which way the crowd is leaning. “And the tribe passed the test. Thanks to Crat'ax and his spear. The Deep knows we can keep a woman safe. Praise be the Deep, all-knowing and gracious!”
“Praise the Deep,” the crowd roars. There’s an edge to it that raises the fine hairs along my arms.
The Deep gave you. The Deep tests us. The Deep will be angry if we give you back.
I notice things without meaning to. Who rushes to help without being told. Who stands back and watches. Who keeps their weapon in hand even though the danger is gone. My brain does this automatically, labeling people, sorting them into categories.Those are helpers. That one is a follower. That quiet group are watchers. That one is a threat. That one is quietly creepy.
The scarred man slaps a pole. “How many attacks before we understand these are warnings? Too many strange things havehappened!” He gives me a furious glare and marches off, pushing his way through the crowd.
