“I will go first,” volunteered
Sitara. She took a couple of slow, deep breaths before walking into the
Threshold and disappearing.
Riel followed immediately after
her, and Ruon was close behind.
Adesina’s heart raced with
apprehension, and Ravi sent soothing thoughts through their Joining.
She took one breath to slow her
heart rate, and another to prepare her mind. Then, taking a breath that was
deeper than the others, she walked into the light.
The sensations of passing through
the Threshold were not like it had been in Zonne. There was no feeling of
compression, no gentle drifting.
Instead, it was like walking
through a violent windstorm. The raw magic whipped about Adesina, pulling at
her clothing and hair. Only the intense training she had endured in order to
become a member of the Shimat assassins saved her from releasing the breath of
air that she held in her lungs.
The experience was as brief as it
was intense, over in an instant.
Adesina found herself deep
underneath water.
Feelings of panic rushed over her
as the salty water stung her eyes. She began swimming towards the surface with
rapids strokes of her arms and legs, trying to calm her mind as she did so.
She glanced back to locate Ravi,
and her eyes rested on the Northern Threshold. Nothing remained, other than a
crooked pile of ruined columns. It was difficult to see details in the dim
light under water, but she could see at least that much. Adesina glimpsed signs
of the remains of a great city beyond the columns—portions of buildings,
statues, broken roads—all covered in algae and seaweed.
Ravi swam past her, not distracted
by the ruins of a city long dead. His powerful limbs propelled him upward with
ease. Adesina followed his example and returned her focus to swimming.
The water around her was growing
lighter, and Adesina felt relief that she was nearing the surface. Her ability
to hold her breath was not endless, no matter the training she had received.
She thought of Ruon’s statement
that there would be help waiting for them, and she swiveled her head in search
of her companions.
They were not far above her. Sitara
and Riel were swimming much like her—paddling with arms and legs—but Ruon’s
arms remained at his side, and his body undulated like a water snake.
As Adesina watched, Ruon stopped
swimming and turned to face back towards the ocean deep. He raised his arms in
silent welcome, and Adesina turned her eyes downward to look.
At first her eyes could detect only
shadows, but then she saw that one of the shadows was moving.
Very swiftly.
The long, serpent-like body bore a
ridge of spiny fins along the back, and a head shaped like an arrow tip was
surrounded by another row of sharp fins that spread outward. Orange eyes almost
seemed to glow in the dark ocean, and Adesina felt a crashing wave of terror
grip her heart.
It was an aekuor.
Adesina started swimming as fast as
she could, but she knew that she could not possibly outpace the enormous sea
monster.
None of her companions, other than
Ravi, seemed to recognize the danger, and Adesina feared that they would be
killed before they could defend themselves.
Adesina connected to her
vyala
and felt the power surge through her with an urgency that she had never
experienced before. She extended her left hand and a flare of light shot
through the water and lashed the aekuor in the eye.
Even under water its shriek of rage
struck her to the core.
She didn’t wait to see the effect
her attack had on the creature, but swam onward to the surface, grabbing at her
companions as she passed.
They broke the surface of the
water, and Sitara sputtered and gasped. “What have you done?”
Adesina swallowed several breaths
of air before she was able to speak. “We do not have time to discuss it. That
monster will kill us if we do not get out of the water right now. Ruon, where
is the help you promised?”
The Laithur’s glittering eyes were
furious. “The aekuor
was
the help.”
Adesina didn’t have a chance to ask
him what he meant. The sea monster rose up from the deep with crashing waves of
water and an ear-splitting cry of wrath.
The aekuor would have killed them
in an instant, but it was suddenly distracted by a small explosion in the water
on its opposite side.
Adesina whipped her head around and
her heart leapt in relief. Not far in the distance was a merchant sea vessel,
lobbing small barrels packed with explosives into the ocean to draw the aekuor
away.
“Swim for that ship,” she commanded
her companions.
A joyful thought from Ravi entered
Adesina’s mind.
Look at the bow!
Her eyes locked on the bright
yellow words painted on the black stained wood.
Zephyr.
A laugh burst from Adesina’s lips,
filled with disbelief and happiness. “Ravi,” she called as she pointed to the
deck.
He immediately understood her
meaning, and he used his Rashad powers to transport himself aboard the vessel.
Adesina and her companions
continued swimming towards the ship, and before long there were ropes thrown in
their direction. She made sure that Sitara and Ruon had firm holds on the ropes
nearest to them, and all three of them were hauled aboard. Riel transported
herself as soon as she saw that her mistress was safe.
Adesina was hauled to her feet by a
burly man with skin the color of rich earth. He locked her in a crushing
embrace and said in a deep voice, “The
Zephyr
welcomes you, Mistress
Adesina.”
“Thank you, Captain Zulimar.”
A proper reunion between Adesina
and the friends she had met on her voyage to Zonne would have to wait. The
captain hurried off to lead his crew in the desperate escape from the aekuor.
A small man—no more than three and
a half feet tall, with wild brown hair and sun-weathered skin—came running by.
Satosh flashed a wicked smile at her as he passed. “It seems you bring danger
in your wake, Adesina.”
She smiled in return, but did not
stop him with a reply. She knew that he was busy trying to save their lives,
and her own mind was racing for some solution to this danger. After all, Ravi
could not risk his life again to save them, as he had the last time they had
faced an aekuor.
It might be easier now that you
are a Serraf.
Adesina shook her head adamantly.
I
am not willing to take that chance.
The young woman’s Immortal
companions crowded around her.
“What have you done?” hissed Ruon.
“You attacked our ally!”
Adesina’s brow furrowed in
confusion. “What are you talking about? The aekuor would just as soon kill us
as look at us!”
“Humans, perhaps,” spat Ruon in
disgust, “but she would not attack
us
. She is one of the Children of the
Night.”
“You mean that aekuor is an
Immortal?” Adesina asked incredulously.
“Yes,” answered Sitara with a
distressed tone of voice. “Like your Serraf ancestors, there were certain
Immortals left in this world. The Aekuor were among them.”
Adesina was dumbfounded. “But…the
aekuor attack every ship they come across!”
Ruon’s eyes were cold and bitter.
“Perhaps they have a reason for doing so.”
“Perhaps you can reason with the
Aekuor,” suggested Ravi. “Ma’eve did not injure her greatly. It was only meant
to scare her away.”
Ruon made a sweeping gesture at the
members of the ship’s crew with his long, thin hand. “What about them?”
“I will ask them to stop,” said
Adesina.
The Laithur still looked furious at
the entire situation, but he gave a sharp nod. “Very well. I will try to
explain to her why she was treated with such unmerited violence.”
Adesina ran across the deck to
where Captain Zulimar was standing, shouting orders to the crew. She placed a
hand on his arm to get his attention. “Captain, you need to stop your attacks
on the aekuor.”
He barely spared her a glance. “We
are not attacking it. We are distracting it in the hope that we can escape.”
She tightened her grip on his arm.
“Please, Captain! I have someone with me who thinks he can send the aekuor
away, but we need all to be still.”
Zulimar turned his dark eyes on her
face as he weighed her words. “You have saved our lives before. Can you swear
to me that you will do so again?”
Adesina did not allow herself to
feel any doubt. “I swear to you that no one will die today.”
Her promise was enough for the
captain. He began shouting orders, and the men launching the barrels of
explosives slowed to a stop.
Ruon’s sinuous form made its way to
the railing on the side of the ship that faced the sea monster. He raised both
arms in the air and emitted a piercing whistle.
The aekuor rose from the water,
rearing like a snake about to strike. Its mouth opened, baring rows of jagged
teeth, and it shrieked so loudly the air seemed to tremble. Ruon whistled
again, and the aekuor hesitated.
Ruon proceeded to make a series of
high-pitched sounds, using his arms to gesture in flowing motions. At first it
seemed like the aekuor was listening to what the Laithur said, but it began to
swing its head back and forth, as if trying to shake off what it was hearing.
Ruon’s motions became more
pleading, but to no avail. The aekuor shrieked again and dove back into the
water, slapping its tail against the side of the boat as it went. The entire
crew was thrown to the deck, and Adesina struggled to regain her footing. She
ran over to Ruon to find out what had happened.
“She will not listen,” Ruon said,
his flat face creased with confusion and concern. “It is like she
cannot
understand me, not just that she will not. What has happened to this world?”
“All hands prepare for impact,”
roared Zulimar.
The aekuor was swimming towards
them, gaining speed to ram the side. Adesina clung to the railing, and called
forth her
vyala
to imitate what she had seen her L’avan friend, Than’os,
do during their last encounter with a sea monster. She manipulated the
properties of the wood of the ship, allowing it to absorb the impact without
splintering.
The force of the blow almost
capsized the ship. Adesina felt some invisible power pressing her to the deck
of the vessel as it rose in the air, and she noticed that those around her were
likewise restrained. She cast her eyes about to find its source, and saw Sitara
glowing with
vyala
. The Serraf’s quick thinking saved the entire crew
from being thrown into the ocean.
The
Zephyr
righted itself,
and giant waves of water splashed into the air. The crew was released from the
hold that had kept them safely onboard, and they all ran to resume their posts
at the catapults.
“I do not understand,” insisted
Ruon. “Why will she not listen?”
Adesina could feel Ravi sorting
through his memory as he recalled all that he had ever learned about the
Immortals. Their Joining allowed her to see his memories, but the images were
no more than flashes to her mind.
He finally settled on a single
memory, and he spoke as soon as he realized its significance.
“The Plague Years.”
The aekuor broke the surface of the
water and let out another wrathful shriek.
Ruon spoke quickly. “What do you
mean?”
Ravi explained as simply as he
could. “After the Great Wars the entire world’s
vyala
was off balance.
For years there were plagues born of magic that ravaged the land. Humans were
affected to a certain degree, but the sicknesses mostly targeted the remaining
few who could use magic.”
“You mean Immortals?” asked
Adesina.
“Immortals or those who had
descended from them,” clarified Ravi. “The majority of them died, but some…”
Understanding shone like a light in
Ruon’s eyes. He turned to face the direction of the sea monster and spoke
softly. “Some went mad.”
A volley of explosive barrels flew
through the air and crashed in the water, distracting the aekuor in a futile
attempt to escape. Zulimar surveyed the situation with a grim expression on his
face.
“I fear we will not survive this
time, unless Master Ravi can pull down another star.”
Ruon’s face twisted in anger. “Heal
her, Serraf! That is the least you can do after your part in the Great Wars.”
The aekuor smashed its head against
the stern of the ship, causing the passengers to lurch and fall to the deck.
“I cannot heal her,” Sitara
explained. “Her madness was born of a magic that is stronger than any I
possess.”
Adesina rose to her feet with a
heavy heart. She did not want to hurt an Immortal, no matter the circumstances.
However, it did not appear that they had any other choice if they wanted to
survive.
Ruon’s dark eyes glittered with
light blue specks, and his thin hand shot out to grip her wrist. “Do not dare
to harm her,” he warned with a hiss.
“What else can we do?” Adesina
asked quietly.
The aekuor lunged forward and
snapped its teeth on the railing, tearing it away and crushing it into
splinters. The crewmembers of
Zephyr
cried out in terror and fled from
the destruction that followed them.
“You claim to be the Threshold
Child,” snarled Ruon. “Does the prophecy not say that you bear all gifts?
You
heal the Aekuor, since Sitara cannot.”
Adesina’s eyes widened in alarm.
Her heart, already racing from the fear that she could not protect her friends,
began to thunder in her chest from the responsibility being thrust upon her. “I
do not know how,” she said helplessly.
“I can guide you,” interceded
Sitara.
The Serraf got to her feet and took
Adesina by the hand. Together they faced the raging aekuor, flinching at the
flying debris that peppered their faces. They could barely stand as the ship
was tossed about by the force of the attacks and the tumultuous water below,
and the frenzied shrieks of the aekuor made it difficult for Adesina to
concentrate.
“Bring your
vyala
to the
front of your mind,” instructed Sitara.
Adesina had remained connected to
her
vyala
, but it felt like it was waiting inside of her, dormant until
she summoned it forth. She did as she was told, allowing it to flow freely.