Page 100 of Beneath the Haunting Sea
That’s what she’d shouted over and over into the storm.
Now a Whale made of Starlight four centuries ago was carrying her through the sea, and Wen wasn’t Wen anymore. The Words of the godswere more powerful than she had thought possible.
How could Wen have done this to himself? To save her, the Whale had said.
She wished to the gods he hadn’t followed her. And yet what was left for him at home if she failed?
“You have the power to heal him,” came the Whale’s earth-rending voice, shocking after such an extended silence.
Talia jerked her head up. “I can change him back?”
“Youcan heal his wing.”
“Oh.” For a moment, she’d thought everything could be well again. “How?”
“Use the Words,” said the Whale.
“I don’t know the Words. Wen tried to teach me, but I couldn’t—”
“You called me with a Word, Endain’s daughter. Do not fear. I will tell you which ones to say.”
His voice calmed her. Water lapped over her knees and she stroked Wen’s feathers, taking a deep breath.The Whale spoke a Word that sounded like a deep, brassy note, strong enough to shake the stars from the sky. She shut her eyes and let the Word sink into her until she felt it belonged to her somehow, even though it still didn’t make sense. It was different from the Words Wen had tried to teach her—she could hold onto this one without it slipping away.
She opened her eyes and looked down at Wen.She mimicked the Whale’s voice, and the Word left her lips, piercing and clear. The bird stirred in his sleep. Talia caught a breath of sweet summer air.
“Is it done?” she asked the Whale.
“Look and see.”
She eased the bandage gently from Wen’s wing, and saw that it was healed, the bone knit straight and any trace of blood entirely gone.
The bird ruffled his feathers, experimentally spreadinghis wings. He flexed them and leapt suddenly into the air, flying in a wide circle above Talia and the Whale.
She stared up at the white bird, afraid he would fly away and leave her alone with the Whale. She was scarcely able to breathe until he landed again and settled beside her.
The day passed, slowly and quickly at once. Without the ship to sail or her charts to study, there was nothingfor Talia to do but stare into the waves, tangled up in her own mad thoughts.
Her knapsack was still miraculously slung over her shoulder, the pouch fastened tight. The faint pulse of Star-light behind the leather comforted her, and for a while her worries fled away.
Night spread over the ocean, a clear black sky blazing with more stars than she had seen in all her life. The Whale swam on throughthe Northern Sea and Wen flew above them, a flash of white in the dark.
She had no desire to sleep, but she felt hazy around the edges, like she was caught somewhere in the space between dreams and waking. The sea ran calm, its music sad and aching in her ears.
“What is your name, daughter of Endain?” Once again, the Whale’s voice startled her.
“Talia Dahl-Saida.”
“A strong name.”
“I havenever felt strong.”
“And yet you are here.”
A sickle moon rose up out of the waves.
“What are you?” asked Talia quietly.
“I am the Whale.”
